Add __version__ attribute with Makefile-based version management

Implements bugsnag.__version__ for programmatic version checking (PEP 396).
Uses Makefile approach (inspired by bugsnag-cocoa) to address performance concerns.

Changes:
- Added __version__ = '4.8.0' to bugsnag/__init__.py
- Hardcoded version='4.8.0' in setup.py
- Hardcoded 'version': '4.8.0' in bugsnag/notifier.py
- Added Makefile with bump target for automated version updates
- Updated CHANGELOG.md with enhancement entry
- Updated CONTRIBUTING.md to document Makefile usage
- Removed VERSION file and MANIFEST.in (no runtime file I/O overhead)
- Updated features/support/env.rb (removed VERSION from test fixtures)

Usage:
- Users: bugsnag.__version__ returns '4.8.0'
- Maintainers: make VERSION=x.y.z bump (updates all 3 files)

Benefits:
- Zero runtime overhead (no file I/O during import)
- bugsnag.__version__ attribute now available
- Automated version updates via single Makefile command
- Addresses reviewer feedback on performance concerns

Author: SB-PawanN

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ Changelog
 ### Enhancements
 
 * Add `__version__` attribute for programmatic version checking
-  * Implemented VERSION file as single source of truth for version number
   * `bugsnag.__version__` now returns the installed package version
+  * Follows PEP 396 specification
 
 ## v4.8.0 (2024-07-08)
 

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -97,17 +97,17 @@ If you're on the core team, you can release Bugsnag as follows:
     git checkout -b release/v4.x.x
     ```
 
-* Update the version number in the [`VERSION`](./VERSION) file
+* Update the version number using the Makefile
 
     ```
-    echo "4.x.x" > VERSION
+    make VERSION=4.x.x bump
     ```
 
 * Update the CHANGELOG.md (add version and date) and README.md if necessary
 * Commit and open a pull request into `master`
 
     ```
-    git add VERSION CHANGELOG.md
+    git add bugsnag/__init__.py setup.py bugsnag/notifier.py CHANGELOG.md
     git commit -m "Release v4.x.x"
     git push origin release/v4.x.x
     ```

MANIFEST.in

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+.PHONY: bump
+
+bump: ## Bump the version numbers to $VERSION
+ifeq ($(VERSION),)
+	@$(error VERSION is not defined. Run with `make VERSION=number bump`)
+endif
+	@echo Bumping the version number to $(VERSION)
+	@sed -i.bak "s/__version__ = '.*'/__version__ = '$(VERSION)'/" bugsnag/__init__.py && rm bugsnag/__init__.py.bak
+	@sed -i.bak "s/version='.*',/version='$(VERSION)',/" setup.py && rm setup.py.bak
+	@sed -i.bak "s/'version': '.*'/'version': '$(VERSION)'/" bugsnag/notifier.py && rm bugsnag/notifier.py.bak
+	@echo "Successfully bumped version to $(VERSION)"
+	@echo "Updated files: bugsnag/__init__.py, setup.py, bugsnag/notifier.py"

Makefile

@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-import os
-
 from bugsnag.configuration import Configuration, RequestConfiguration
 from bugsnag.notification import Notification
 from bugsnag.event import Event
@@ -20,13 +18,7 @@
                             clear_feature_flag, clear_feature_flags,
                             aws_lambda_handler)
 
-# Read version from VERSION file
-_version_file = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', 'VERSION')
-try:
-    with open(_version_file, 'r') as f:
-        __version__ = f.read().strip()
-except Exception:
-    __version__ = 'unknown'
+__version__ = '4.8.0'
 
 __all__ = ('Client', 'Event', 'Configuration', 'RequestConfiguration',
            'configuration', 'configure', 'configure_request',

VERSION

@@ -1,15 +1,5 @@
-import os
-
-# Read version from VERSION file
-_version_file = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', 'VERSION')
-try:
-    with open(_version_file, 'r') as f:
-        _version = f.read().strip()
-except Exception:
-    _version = 'unknown'
-
 _NOTIFIER_INFORMATION = {
     'name': 'Python Bugsnag Notifier',
     'url': 'https://github.com/bugsnag/bugsnag-python',
-    'version': _version
+    'version': '4.8.0'
 }

bugsnag/__init__.py

@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ def current_ip
     FileUtils.mkdir(destination) unless File.exist?(destination)
 
     FileUtils.cp_r(
-      ["bugsnag", "setup.py", "VERSION"],
+      ["bugsnag", "setup.py"],
       destination,
       remove_destination: true # delete destination before copying
     )

bugsnag/notifier.py

@@ -10,16 +10,11 @@
 and solve your bugs as fast as possible.
 """
 
-import os
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
 
-# Read version from VERSION file
-with open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'VERSION'), 'r') as f:
-    version = f.read().strip()
-
 setup(
     name='bugsnag',
-    version=version,
+    version='4.8.0',
     description='Automatic error monitoring for django, flask, etc.',
     long_description=__doc__,
     author='Simon Maynard',