A Release Candidate (RC) is a version of software that is nearly complete and considered a potential final release. This version is released to perform final testing and ensure that there are no critical bugs or issues. If no significant problems are found, the Release Candidate is typically declared as the final version or "stable release."
Here are some key points about Release Candidates:
Purpose: The main purpose of a Release Candidate is to make the software available to a broader audience to test it under real-world conditions and identify any remaining bugs or issues.
Stability: An RC should be more stable than previous beta versions since all planned features have been implemented and tested. However, there may still be minor bugs that need to be fixed before the final release.
Version Numbering: Release Candidates are often labeled with the suffix -rc followed by a number, e.g., 1.0.0-rc.1, 1.0.0-rc.2, etc. This numbering helps distinguish between different candidates if multiple RCs are released before the final release.
Feedback and Testing: Developers and users are encouraged to thoroughly test the Release Candidate and provide feedback to ensure that the final version is stable and bug-free.
Transition to Final Version: If the RC does not have any critical issues and all identified bugs are fixed, it can be declared the final version. This typically involves removing the -rc suffix and potentially incrementing the version number.
An example of versioning:
1.0.0-alpha, 1.0.0-beta1.0.0-rc.11.0.0Overall, a Release Candidate serves as the final stage of testing before the software is released as stable and ready for production use.
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