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CakePHP Development Process

Here we attempt to explain the process we use when developing the CakePHP framework. We rely heavily on community interaction through tickets and IRC chat. IRC is the best place to find members of the development team and discuss ideas, the latest code, and make general comments. If something more formal needs to be proposed or there is a problem with a release, the ticket system is the best place to share your thoughts.

We currently maintain 4 versions of CakePHP.

  • stable : Tagged releases intended for production where stability is more important than features. Issues filed against these releases will be fixed in the related branch, and be part of the next release.

  • maintenance branch : Development branches become maintenance branches once a stable release point has been reached. Maintenance branches are where all bugfixes are committed before making their way into a stable release. Maintenance branches have the same name as the major version they are for example 1.2. If you are using a stable release and need fixes that haven’t made their way into a stable release check here.

  • development branches : Development branches contain leading edge fixes and features. They are named after the version number they are for example 1.3. Once development branches have reached a stable release point they become maintenance branches, and no further new features are introduced unless absolutely necessary.

  • feature branches : Feature branches contain unfinished or possibly unstable features and are recommended only for power users interested in the most advanced feature set and willing to contribute back to the community. Feature branches are named with the following convention version-feature. An example would be 1.3-router Which would contain new features for the Router for 1.3.

Hopefully this will help you understand what version is right for you. Once you pick your version you may feel compelled to contribute a bug report or make general comments on the code.

  • If you are using a stable version or maintenance branch, please submit tickets or discuss with us on IRC.

  • If you are using the development branch or feature branch, the first place to go is IRC. If you have a comment and cannot reach us in IRC after a day or two, please submit a ticket.

If you find an issue, the best answer is to write a test. The best advice we can offer in writing tests is to look at the ones included in the core.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, visit us at #cakephp on irc.freenode.net.