New() and Make()

Introduce Make() which is an alias for Parse() and returns a version as value. New() changed to return a pointer.

Breaking changes:
Change New() to Make() to fix pointer vs value problem.

README.md

@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ Note: Always vendor your dependencies or fix on a specific version tag.
 
 ```go
 import github.com/blang/semver
-v1, err := semver.New("1.0.0-beta")
-v2, err := semver.New("2.0.0-beta")
+v1, err := semver.Make("1.0.0-beta")
+v2, err := semver.Make("2.0.0-beta")
 v1.Compare(v2)
 ```
 
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ Have a look at full examples in [examples/main.go](examples/main.go)
 ```go
 import github.com/blang/semver
 
-v, err := semver.New("0.0.1-alpha.preview+123.github")
+v, err := semver.Make("0.0.1-alpha.preview+123.github")
 fmt.Printf("Major: %d\n", v.Major)
 fmt.Printf("Minor: %d\n", v.Minor)
 fmt.Printf("Patch: %d\n", v.Patch)
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ if len(v.Build) > 0 {
     }
 }
 
-v001, err := semver.New("0.0.1")
+v001, err := semver.Make("0.0.1")
 // Compare using helpers: v.GT(v2), v.LT, v.GTE, v.LTE
 v001.GT(v) == true
 v.LT(v001) == true

examples/main.go

@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ func main() {
 		}
 	}
 
-	// New == Parse
-	v001, err := semver.New("0.0.1")
+	// Make == Parse (Value), New for Pointer
+	v001, err := semver.Make("0.0.1")
 
 	fmt.Println("\nUse Version.Compare for comparisons (-1, 0, 1):")
 	fmt.Printf("%q is greater than %q: Compare == %d\n", v001, v, v001.Compare(v))

semver.go

@@ -191,12 +191,19 @@ func (v Version) Validate() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// Alias for Parse, parses version string and returns a validated Version or error
-func New(s string) (Version, error) {
+// New is an alias for Parse and returns a pointer, parses version string and returns a validated Version or error
+func New(s string) (vp *Version, err error) {
+	v, err := Parse(s)
+	vp = &v
+	return
+}
+
+// Make is an alias for Parse, parses version string and returns a validated Version or error
+func Make(s string) (Version, error) {
 	return Parse(s)
 }
 
-// Parses version string and returns a validated Version or error
+// Parse parses version string and returns a validated Version or error
 func Parse(s string) (Version, error) {
 	if len(s) == 0 {
 		return Version{}, errors.New("Version string empty")

semver_test.go

@@ -272,6 +272,21 @@ func TestNewHelper(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Unexpected error %q", err)
 	}
+
+	// New returns pointer
+	if v == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Version is nil")
+	}
+	if v.Compare(Version{1, 2, 3, nil, nil}) != 0 {
+		t.Fatal("Unexpected comparison problem")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMakeHelper(t *testing.T) {
+	v, err := Make("1.2.3")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected error %q", err)
+	}
 	if v.Compare(Version{1, 2, 3, nil, nil}) != 0 {
 		t.Fatal("Unexpected comparison problem")
 	}
@@ -282,7 +297,7 @@ func BenchmarkParseSimple(b *testing.B) {
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	b.ResetTimer()
 	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {
-		New(VERSION)
+		Parse(VERSION)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -291,7 +306,7 @@ func BenchmarkParseComplex(b *testing.B) {
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	b.ResetTimer()
 	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {
-		New(VERSION)
+		Parse(VERSION)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -300,13 +315,13 @@ func BenchmarkParseAverage(b *testing.B) {
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	b.ResetTimer()
 	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {
-		New(formatTests[n%l].result)
+		Parse(formatTests[n%l].result)
 	}
 }
 
 func BenchmarkStringSimple(b *testing.B) {
 	const VERSION = "0.0.1"
-	v, _ := New(VERSION)
+	v, _ := Parse(VERSION)
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	b.ResetTimer()
 	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {
@@ -316,7 +331,7 @@ func BenchmarkStringSimple(b *testing.B) {
 
 func BenchmarkStringLarger(b *testing.B) {
 	const VERSION = "11.15.2012"
-	v, _ := New(VERSION)
+	v, _ := Parse(VERSION)
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	b.ResetTimer()
 	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {
@@ -326,7 +341,7 @@ func BenchmarkStringLarger(b *testing.B) {
 
 func BenchmarkStringComplex(b *testing.B) {
 	const VERSION = "0.0.1-alpha.preview+123.456"
-	v, _ := New(VERSION)
+	v, _ := Parse(VERSION)
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	b.ResetTimer()
 	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {
@@ -345,7 +360,7 @@ func BenchmarkStringAverage(b *testing.B) {
 
 func BenchmarkValidateSimple(b *testing.B) {
 	const VERSION = "0.0.1"
-	v, _ := New(VERSION)
+	v, _ := Parse(VERSION)
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	b.ResetTimer()
 	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {
@@ -355,7 +370,7 @@ func BenchmarkValidateSimple(b *testing.B) {
 
 func BenchmarkValidateComplex(b *testing.B) {
 	const VERSION = "0.0.1-alpha.preview+123.456"
-	v, _ := New(VERSION)
+	v, _ := Parse(VERSION)
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	b.ResetTimer()
 	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {
@@ -374,7 +389,7 @@ func BenchmarkValidateAverage(b *testing.B) {
 
 func BenchmarkCompareSimple(b *testing.B) {
 	const VERSION = "0.0.1"
-	v, _ := New(VERSION)
+	v, _ := Parse(VERSION)
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	b.ResetTimer()
 	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {
@@ -384,7 +399,7 @@ func BenchmarkCompareSimple(b *testing.B) {
 
 func BenchmarkCompareComplex(b *testing.B) {
 	const VERSION = "0.0.1-alpha.preview+123.456"
-	v, _ := New(VERSION)
+	v, _ := Parse(VERSION)
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	b.ResetTimer()
 	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {

sort_test.go

@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestSort(t *testing.T) {
-	v100, _ := New("1.0.0")
-	v010, _ := New("0.1.0")
-	v001, _ := New("0.0.1")
+	v100, _ := Parse("1.0.0")
+	v010, _ := Parse("0.1.0")
+	v001, _ := Parse("0.0.1")
 	versions := []Version{v010, v100, v001}
 	Sort(versions)
 
@@ -19,9 +19,9 @@ func TestSort(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func BenchmarkSort(b *testing.B) {
-	v100, _ := New("1.0.0")
-	v010, _ := New("0.1.0")
-	v001, _ := New("0.0.1")
+	v100, _ := Parse("1.0.0")
+	v010, _ := Parse("0.1.0")
+	v001, _ := Parse("0.0.1")
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	b.ResetTimer()
 	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {