Provides a version class to get the current Spring Cloud release tag

[XhstormR]

Just as Spring Framework has SpringVersion and Spring Boot has SpringBootVersion, Spring Cloud should also have a similar class, such as SpringCloudVersion to read the current release tag.

https://github.com/spring-cloud/spring-cloud-release/tags

[ryanjbaxter]

This is a bit more complex because Spring Cloud is not just one project and we have a release train.

I am curious as to how you would use a class like this if it was present?

[XhstormR]

I will primarily use it for log collection, to display the version information of the libraries used in the application.

[mipo256]

I am curious as to how you would use a class like this if it was present?

@ryanjbaxter Hey there, core maintainer of the Axelix project. We would want to have this API as well, since we need to display the version of the Spring Cloud as it currently is on the UI.

This is just very convinient in overall communication between developers to say stuff like "We use Spring Cloud version X".

We can of course say that "technically" there is no single spring cloud version, but still. I notice that projects under Spring Cloud umbrella align their versions. And having 2025.1 BOM, we can almost certainly state that we have Spring Cloud 5.0.1. So there is kind of single "Spring Cloud Version" on the horizon.

There are of course some very tiny outlines like spring-cloud-contract-dependencies, but I think the difference is too minor, and the spring-cloud-contract-dependencies can align its versioning with the others, I guess.

[spencergibb]

@mipo256 while the versions in the 2025.1 bom happen to have the same versions, it is not guaranteed (See every other release train). Please add a thumbs up to the first comment to vote.

[spencergibb]

spring-cloud-release (the thing numbered with calver) is the only artifact that knows about the train version. It is a bom and currently only used by your build system to manage dependencies. It does not get bundled with your spring boot app. I would use your build system (maven or gradle) to insert the spring cloud version property into an artifact deployed by your application.

To have a class in this project that does this, we would have to introduce a new artifact that you would have to include in your project.

[mipo256]

To have a class in this project that does this, we would have to introduce a new artifact that you would have to include in your project.

I completely understand that, and I think this is a bit of an overkill as well. I'm not suggesting that :)

while the versions in the 2025.1 bom happen to have the same versions, it is not guaranteed (See every other release train). Please add a thumbs up to the first comment to vote.

Alright, so am I correct that this is just a coincidence? If so, then this is, at least as I see it, a bit unfortunate. I mean, the Spring I/O just took place in Barcelona, and people typically say stuff like:

What version of Spring Boot are you using?
We're on Spring Boot 3

Same with Spring Framework. If the same question got asked about Spring Cloud, then the CalVer answer is not really the answer, since the phrase "We use Spring Cloud 2025.0.1" is not really the answer, since the release notes are not for "2025.0.1", they are for spring-cloud-config "5.0.1". So there is a mental gap here.

I respectfully hope you understand the overall narrative @spencergibb

[mipo256]

BTW, maybe we can ship the small properties file or just include some entry in the MANIFEST like:

Spring-Cloud-Release-Train-Version: 2025.0.1

At least this can be considered as an analog of some sort to Spring Cloud single version, I guess

[spencergibb]

Since no module is a jar, there is no manifest, so that won't work either.

Indeed we're aware that the community mostly speaks in spring boot version. The current answer is https://spring.io/projects/generations, which doesn't help at runtime.