Contribute to MuseScore 2.3 or 3?

• Apr 12, 2018 - 21:33

Under what circumstances should a feature be added to MuseScore 3, rather than to MuseScore 2.3 (and vice versa)?

Comments

• Apr 23, 2018 - 11:06

To clarify what @Jojo was saying, all development by contributors (so anything you do) should be done on 3.0. Once it has been added to 3.0 the lead developers decide whether it is safe to also add it to 2.3. This applies to bug fixes as well as new features.

A feature is considered safe for 2.3 if it doesn't break backwards compatibility at all, and if it doesn't break forwards compatibility much. Backwards compatibility means scores made in 2.2 should open in 2.3 and look the same as they did in 2.2. Forwards compatibility means that scores made in 2.3 should still open in 2.2 and look the same (or nearly the same) as they did in 2.3.

Changes that don't affect the score at all (e.g. changes to the GUI) are always backwards and forwards compatible, but they are unlikely to be added to 2.3 if they dramatically change the look and feel of the program.

On some occasions it may be necessary to fix a bug that only exists in 2.X, or add a small new feature for 2.X only because it is considered very valuable but isn't needed in 3.0 (perhaps 3.0 already has the feature but in a different form). In these cases it is probably best to leave it to the main developers and concentrate your efforts on things for 3.0.

Reply

Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.