NSubstitute 6.0.0 roadmap proposal

[Romfos]

I propose to implement changes in following areas for the next major release:

Infrastructure:

• Update tfm list: net8.0 + netstandard2.0 (Update target frameworks and other infrastructure changes #831)
• Drop EOL .NET 6 and .NET 7 from test matrix (Update target frameworks and other infrastructure changes #831)
• Migrate to slnx (Migrate to slnx #882)

Update dependencies:

• Make public api and tests the same for all TFMs #885
• Castle.Core 5.2.1 #870

.NET 9 support:

• Migrate to .NET 9 sdk and C# 13 (Added .NET 9 to test matrix #848)
• Add .NET 9 to test matrix (Added .NET 9 to test matrix #848)

Migrate from build "project" to .NET cli + GitHub actions

• Release workflow Release build workflow #797
• Migrate to dotnet pack Move package creating from build.fsproj to github actions #838

Code cleanup:

• remove already obsolete methods\classes these were obsolete for years (Update target frameworks and other infrastructure changes #831)
• Mark as obsolete some old classes\methods for "compatibility" with C# pre 7.0 and older versions (Update target frameworks and other infrastructure changes #831)
• Remove NUnit.Framework.Legacy from tests (Migrate documentation samples to NUnit4 #889)

Public api changes:

• Remove #nullable disable annotations from code base and enable NRE for public api (Enable nullability for public api #856)
• Make sealed all classes that could be sealed (Make sealed/internal all classes that could be sealed/internal #869)
• Make internal all classes that could be internal (Make sealed/internal all classes that could be sealed/internal #869)
• Move most of core types to internal namespace (Move some core type into internal & migrate to slnx #880)
• Make public api and tests the same for all TFMs (Make public api and tests the same for all TFMs #885)

Documentation:

• Migrate documentation to docfx and remove ruby dependency (Migrate documentation to docfx #850)
• Migrate from build.fsproj to Roslyn code generation for documentation validation (Migrate documentation validation from build.fsproj to Roslyn code generator #883)
• Update documentation samples to NUnit4 (Migrate documentation samples to NUnit4 #889)

Bugs:

• 404 from Documentation Links #884 (Fix doc links (#884) #886)

cc @dtchepak @alexandrnikitin @tpodolak

[appel1]

Please continue to support .NET Framework as well. There's no EOL for .NET Framework >= 4.7 yet and being able to run our tests for all targets is a must for us.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/microsoft-net-framework

[304NotModified]

Related #551

[304NotModified]

I propose for 6.0:

• Change internal classes to internal #868 (From NSubstitute future improvements #551)

[304NotModified]

Could we pin this issue? And/or create a 6.0 milestone?

[jmartschinke]

Please continue to support .NET Framework as well. There's no EOL for .NET Framework >= 4.7 yet and being able to run our tests for all targets is a must for us.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/microsoft-net-framework

netstandard2.0 is compatible with .NET Framework
support ends with netstandard2.1

[jmartschinke]

In fact, net8.0 is in my opinion also unneccessary to target directly, as netstandard2.0 contains:

• .NET and .NET Core | 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 3.0, 3.1, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0, 9.0
• .NET Framework  | 4.6.1 2, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1

see here

[304NotModified]

In fact, net8.0 is in my opinion also unneccessary to target directly, as netstandard2.0 contains:

• .NET and .NET Core | 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 3.0, 3.1, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0, 9.0
• .NET Framework  | 4.6.1 2, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1

see here

.NET Standard 2.0 seems sufficient as it:

• supports .NET Framework 4.6.2+
• supports .NET 8+
• also supports .NET Framework 4.6.1 (with issues), but .NET Framework 4.6.1 is already end-of-life.

However, you're missing nullability support, as noted in this csproj.

Nullability is supported with .NET Standard 2.1, but you would lose .NET Framework compatibility.

Conclusion: .NET 8 + .NET Standard 2.0 is a good choice.

[jmartschinke]

Ah smart! You are right and the solution in the csproj file is nice.
.NET Standard 2.0 + .NET Standard 2.1 would be an equally good choice then right?