spec release blog

Author: andimarek

content/blog/spec-releases-are-not-important.md

@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+---
+title: "GraphQL spec releases are not important"
+date: 2021-02-12T09:00:00+10:00
+author: Andreas Marek
+draft: false
+---
+
+Every once in a while somebody asks which version of the GraphQL spec GraphQL Java supports.
+The general answer is: the current draft.
+
+The bigger question behind this is: what is the information you want get out of this question? 
+Why do you ask this question?
+
+The thing is: spec releases are not really important and people misinterpret what they mean.
+
+# Evolution of the spec process
+
+The GraphQL spec has five releases so far: 
+
+- two in 2015 (including the first published version)
+- two in 2016
+- one in 2018
+
+As you can see in the first two years spec releases where quite frequently, but after the one in 2018,
+there has not been a release.
+
+2017 was also the year the [GraphQL Working Group](https://github.com/graphql/graphql-wg) was established.
+This group is the main forum to evolve the spec since then. Over time this group established a very high bar 
+for every PR to be merged into the spec. (See the [Contributing guidelines](https://github.com/graphql/graphql-spec/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md)) 
+
+With this high standard set, nearly all implementations (including GraphQL Java) started to implement every 
+merged PR instead of waiting for a big release. Because they are very confident this change will be released
+in this form, it is safe to implement it right away.
+
+This treatment of merged PRs as de-factor releases is now an established rule in the GraphQL community. 
+This explains why the whole GraphQL ecosystem has evolved a lot since 2018, even without a release.  
+
+__A release is not needed anymore if every merged PR is like a mini release.__
+ 
+Future releases are more like an 
+[opportunity to look back and promote the work since the last release.](https://github.com/graphql/graphql-wg/blob/main/notes/2021-02-04.md#promoting-and-documenting-spec-release-5m-brian)
+
+I personally hope that we make this de-facto rule, that evey PR is a mini release, more official. 
+We should not use the word "draft" any more, but every merged PR should automatically result in a 
+new GraphQL spec version which is formally approved by the [GraphQL TSC.](https://github.com/graphql/graphql-wg/blob/main/GraphQL-TSC.md)
+
+Coming back to the question: "Which spec version of GraphQL is supported"? 
+I hope by now it is clear why this question is probably not really helpful. 
+
+It is better to think about certain features you want to discuss instead referring to the spec releases.   
+
+# Feedback or questions
+We use [GitHub Discussions](https://github.com/graphql-java/graphql-java/discussions) for general feedback and questions.
+
+You can also contact us on Twitter: [@graphql_java](https://twitter.com/graphql_java)
+
+You can also checkout our [Workshops](/workshops) for more possibilities to learn about GraphQL 
+and GraphQL Java.
+
+
+