A few months prior to finalizing a new release of ACME, there will be a scientific "feature freeze" on a specified date.
A. After the specified date, no code that introduces new scientific capabilities of the model can be introduced to the version being finalized. More specifically,
A. Then that feature will go in the release after the one being finalized.
A. The executive committee/Council retains the option of allowing exceptions, but exceptions will be few and should not be expected.
A. The integrators need time to bring all the new features to master including new tests and resolve any conflicts (Step 3 of Phase 1 of the /wiki/spaces/CNCL/pages/25231511) and the coupled model and performance groups need time to complete their testing/review (Phase 2 of the /wiki/spaces/CNCL/pages/25231511.)
A. See the documentation at Branch, Tag, and Version name conventions
A. No. The only changes allowed during the alpha/beta phase are to fix problems with the climate simulations or performance as revealed by Phase 2 of the /wiki/spaces/CNCL/pages/25231511.
A. This case is still under discussion.
A. If the new code does not change answers, it can still be integrated to master before the release.
A. Of course if bugs are found in the frozen features during testing, fixes for those bugs can go in.
A. Wait until the maintenance branch has been established for the version being finalized. After that, master can accept answer- or climate-changing code for future versions.
A. The build/test system will have a different feature freeze date but the same rules apply.
A. That is the "code freeze" date and will happen shortly before the release.