2016 Scala Release Schedule update

Author: adriaanm

news/_posts/2015-12-09-schedule-update.md

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+---
+layout: news
+post-type: announcement
+title: "2016 Scala Release Schedule update"
+permalink: /news/2016-schedule
+---
+
+With 2016 rapidly approaching, it's time for an update on our plans for Scala next year!
+
+**Scala 2.11:** We expect to conclude the 2.11.x series with 2.11.8 in Q1 2016 and 2.11.9 in Q3 2016.
+
+**Scala 2.12:** Our current focus is to have 2.12.0-RC1 out by the end of Q2. First, we'll have two more 2.12 milestones:
+M4 by the end of January (new trait encoding!), and M5 before Scala Days NYC (feature freeze).
+Our [GitHub milestones page](https://github.com/scala/scala/milestones) has projected dates,
+and will be updated with milestone details as they develop.
+
+[Big compiler changes](http://scala-lang.org/news/2.12-roadmap) are underway, between the new encodings for
+lambdas and traits that take full advantage of Java 8, and the new optimizer. Both milestones will be an excellent
+opportunity to give 2.12 a spin before we cut RC1 (expected end of May). We're eager to hear your experience with 2.12,
+both online and in person at Scala Days NYC and Berlin!
+
+
+## Participation
+As always, getting new Scala versions out the door is a collective effort between Typesafe, EPFL, and the Scala user community.
+
+Areas where participation is welcome include:
+  - Library authors: we encourage you to publish your libraries for 2.12.0-M3 and later milestones.
+    If you do publish, please [list your library](https://github.com/scala/make-release-notes/blob/2.12.x/projects-2.12.md).
+  - Library authors: if (the latest version of) your library isn't included in the 2.12 community build,
+    we have [documented](https://github.com/scala/community-builds/wiki) how to add it. We’ll be happy to help,
+    as the community build is helping us catch more regressions than ever, but we still absolutely need your help with testing
+    before we go into RC mode. (The [2.12 community build config](https://github.com/scala/community-builds/blob/2.12.x/common.conf) 
+    lists which version of each built project, and whether its test suite is being exercised.)
+  - Reviewing [pull requests in the Scala repository](https://github.com/scala/scala/pulls), where 2.12.x is now the default branch.
+    Strong motivation will be needed before we merge anything but important bug fixes to the 2.11.x branch.
+  - Documentation updates and reviewing help are much appreciated at the [scala-lang](https://github.com/scala/scala-lang/pulls) 
+    and [docs.scala-lang](https://github.com/scala/scala.github.com/pulls) repos.
+
+You can talk to us about 2.12 on the [scala-internals mailing list](https://groups.google.com/forum/%23!forum/scala-internals) 
+and the [scala/contributors Gitter room](https://gitter.im/scala/contributors).
+(An [expanded community page](http://www.scala-lang.org/community/) on the Scala site lists these and other forums and resources.)
+
+Your feedback will inform any revisions needed to the schedule described here.
+We'll keep you informed as we continue to refine [our release schedule](https://github.com/scala/scala/milestones).
+
+
+## Timing
+Below is a recap of our timeline, future and past. The 2.12.x milestones follow 2.11.x's schedule,
+with about a year for development between M1 and RC1. Because 2.11.x will be the last release that supports Java 6,
+we've worked extra hard to improve 2.11.x before shifting our focus to 2.12.x, with a half dozen releases in one year
+(the same number of 2.10.x releases took twice as long). For a while now, 2.11.x has had to take a back seat while we
+make the last push to complete 2.12.0-RC1 according to this schedule.
+
+
+
+### Future 2.12.x
+  - 2.12.0-M4   Jan 25, 2016 (ca. 12 work-weeks after M3)
+  - 2.12.0-M5   Apr 25, 2016 (one year after M1, as in 2.11.x)
+  - 2.12.0-RC1  May 30, 2016 (one month after last milestone, between Scala Days NYC and Berlin)
+
+### Future 2.11.x
+  - 2.11.8      Feb 8,  2016 (tentative date -- definitely between 2.12.0-M4 and M5)
+  - 2.11.9      Q3,     2016 (last planned 2.11.x release, >2 years after 2.11.1)
+
+### Past 2.12.x
+  - 2.12.0-M1   May 4,  2015
+  - 2.12.0-M2   Jul 15, 2015
+  - 2.12.0-M3   Oct 6,  2015
+
+### Past 2.11.x
+  - 2.11.0-M1   Jan 7,  2013
+  - 2.11.0-M7   Nov 18, 2013
+  - 2.11.0-M8   Jan 21, 2014 (one year after M1)
+  - 2.11.0-RC1  Feb 28, 2014 (one month after last milestone)
+  - 2.11.0      Apr 16, 2014 (six weeks after RC1)
+  - 2.11.1      May 20, 2014
+  - 2.11.7      Jun 23, 2015 (just one year after 2.11.1; 2.10.1-2.10.5 took two years)
+
+### 2.10.x
+  - 2.10.0 Dec 19, 2012
+  - 2.10.1 Mar 12, 2013
+  - 2.10.2 Jun 6,  2013
+  - 2.10.3 Sep 27, 2013
+  - 2.10.4 Mar 18, 2014
+  - 2.10.5 Mar 4,  2015 (EOL two years after 2.10.1)
+  - 2.10.6 Sep 18, 2015 (resolve license incompatibility)