Semantic Versioning (SemVer) follows the patternMAJOR.MINOR.PATCHwith optional pre-release identifiers (e.g., -rc, -alpha.1) and build metadata. Among the options,0.1.0-rcmatches SemVer rules, soCis correct.
0.1.0-rc breaks down as: MAJOR=0, MINOR=1, PATCH=0, and -rc indicates apre-release(“release candidate”). Pre-release versions are valid SemVer and are explicitly allowed to denote versions that are not yet considered stable. For a first-time open-source release, 0.x.y is common because it signals the API may still change in backward-incompatible ways before reaching 1.0.0.
Why the other options are not correct SemVer as written:
1.0 is missing the PATCH segment; SemVer requires three numeric components (e.g., 1.0.0).
2021-10-11 is a date string, not MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.
v1beta1 resembles Kubernetes API versioning conventions, not SemVer.
In cloud-native delivery and Kubernetes ecosystems, SemVer matters because it communicates compatibility. Incrementing MAJOR indicates breaking changes, MINOR indicates backward-compatible feature additions, and PATCH indicates backward-compatible bug fixes. Pre-release tags allow releasing candidates for testing without claiming full stability. This is especially useful for open-source consumers and automation systems that need consistent version comparison and upgrade planning.
So, the only valid semantic version in the choices is0.1.0-rc, optionC.
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