Verona spec: $PRE comparison

Iris Clark iris.clark at oracle.com
Fri Aug 21 05:10:37 UTC 2015


Hi.

We need to declare precedence when comparing numeric and non-numeric $PRE identifiers.  The present mixed numerical/lexicographical comparison is non-transitive and will produce unexpected results.  Consider the following three values of $PRE:  "4", "2A", and "12" which produces the cycle: 4 > 2A > 12 > 4.

To address this problem while still aligning with semver.org, we should follow their lead and declare a comparison precedence.  The following sentence will be added to the end of the $PRE comparison paragraph:

>     Numeric identifiers have lower precedence than non-numeric identifiers.

In the previous example we now have the following: 2A > 12 > 4.

Thanks,
iris



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