Compiler Release Process

For each release, some steps to check:

• start: declare the new Language Versions when a common branch becomes available (this has a checklist of its own)
• start: review/triage issues that should be considered during that milestone (scrub unlabeled issues)
• preview: review public API changes
• preview: remove any unused Language Version
• preview/RTM: notify partners of preview and RTM packages being published to NuGet
• preview/RTM: notify documentation team of first preview and RTM timeline (to publish docs)
• preview/RTM: update Visual Studio release notes
• RTM: announce the new features on the team blog and in the Visual Studio Preview release notes
• RTM: record the language history and move the language proposals to the appropriate folder
• update the package description(s)

For each language feature:

• work with LDM to identify a champion and define the feature
• update the Language Feature Status page as we start working on features
• identify a designated reviewer
• notify Jared and Neal on PRs with public API changes
• breaking changes need to be approved by the compat council and documented
• designated reviewer should document and validate a test plan
• blocking issues should be identified and resolved before merging feature back to main (that includes resolving PROTOTYPE comments)
• update the feature status when the feature is complete

To add a language version:

• add it to the compiler (tests have a checklist)
• add it to project-systems so that it appears in the UI drop-down
• for VB, add it in an internal repo for legacy project system
• add it to release.json (needs to be confirmed)