Difference between tilde (~) and caret (^) in package.json

There is a lot of confusion going around when it comes to the difference between tilde and caret inside your package.json file, which can end up in a mess on the production side since you might update accidentally to the version of a dependency that yo…

There is a lot of confusion going around when it comes to the difference between tilde and caret inside your package.json file, which can end up in a mess on the production side since you might update accidentally to the version of a dependency that you did not test for production.

In today’s article, I wanna clarify the differences between these two concepts.

Photo by Blake Connally on Unsplash

~version (approximately equivalent to version)

Will update you on all future patch versions, without incrementing the minor version. ~1.2.3 will use releases from 1.2.3 to <1.3.0.

^version (compatible with version)

Will update you on all future minor/patch versions, without incrementing the major version. ^2.3.4 will use releases from 2.3.4 to <3.0.0.

Thanks for reading my short article about this topic. I hope, I could refresh your knowledge.

Cheers

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" » Difference between tilde (~) and caret (^) in package.json." Kevin Vogel | Sciencx [Online]. Available: https://www.scien.cx/2022/02/18/difference-between-tilde-and-caret-in-package-json/. [Accessed: 2024-03-29T10:23:48+00:00]
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» Difference between tilde (~) and caret (^) in package.json | Kevin Vogel | Sciencx | https://www.scien.cx/2022/02/18/difference-between-tilde-and-caret-in-package-json/ | 2024-03-29T10:23:48+00:00
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