Explicitly document supported Node & Python versions per major release in README

[dlqqq]

Many users encounter confusing errors because they are using older versions of node-gyp being required by other dependencies. However, some developers, including myself, are hesitant to explicitly resolve to a higher version of node-gyp as it may introduce new compatibility issues, e.g. older versions of Node or Python being dropped.

Can the supported Python & Node versions per major release be explicitly documented in the README? For example, one row may look like:

node-gyp version	Compatible Python versions	Compatible Node versions
^9.0.0	>=3.7,<=3.10	>=12,<=18

[cclauss]

Python v3.12 requires node-gyp release >= v10.

• https://github.com/nodejs/node-gyp/releases

[Apollon77]

... and is included in npm >= 10.2.2. Maybe adding that would also be awesome

[dlqqq]

@cclauss Thanks for clarifying the behavior of node-gyp@^10! I have another follow-up question for you.

I believe the current major release policy is as follows:

• On every major (i.e. backwards-incompatible) stable release of Node & Python (e.g. Node 16 => 18, or Python 3.11 => 3.12):
  • Include support for the latest major versions,
  • Drop support for any newly-deprecated major versions (if any),
  • Finally, bump the major version of node-gyp and cut a release.

Is the observed major release policy for node-gyp? If not, what is the major release policy? We should also cover this in the documentation.

[cclauss]

My efforts on the Python side is that the current node-gyp tracks with https://devguide.python.org/versions

That means that node-gyp v10 supports Python 3.8 thru 3.12. Supporting five versions seems like enough complexity.

Node.js support should similarly track with https://nodejs.org/en/about/previous-releases

[dlqqq]

@cclauss That makes sense, thanks for the reference! I am asking, however, what goes into deciding whether to cut a new major release? For example, did you cut node-gyp@^10 because Python 3.12 was released, or for some other reason?

I think the repository needs a major release policy to be explicitly documented. In other words, there should be documentation that describes when and why new major releases of node-gyp are cut.

[cclauss]

• [QUESTION] Engines of next major version? #2753
  Is a good example of the kind of discussion that goes into making a major release.