Release procedure 3.8.4-RC1

[WojciechMazur]

• Publish artifacts to Maven via CI

  • Ensure scala-steward is blocking automatic upgrades for 3.8.4
  • On release-3.8.4 branch:
    • Create changelog file in changelogs/3.8.4-RC1.md
    • In project/Build.scala: Set baseVersion = "3.8.4-RC1" and ensure referenceVersion is set to stable version
    • In tasty/src/dotty/tools/tasty/TastyFormat.scala ensure MinorVersion is set to 8
    • In tasty/src/dotty/tools/tasty/TastyFormat.scala ensure ExperimentalVersion is set to stable (0)
    • Tag the branch as 3.8.4-RC1
    • Wait for CI to publish artifacts
    • Audit and release artifacts on https://central.sonatype.com/

• On main branch:

  • In project/Build.scala: Set referenceVersion to 3.8.4-RC1 [chore] Setup build for for 3.8.5 development cycle #25686
  • Check and update project/MiMaFilters.scala

• Wait for releases/confirmation from tooling:

  • Scala CLI - test
  • Scala Native - publish compiler plugin
  • Scastie - update available versions
  • Scalameta Parser - test and update dialects to include new features on a new minor chore: Test with Scala 3.8.4 scalameta/scalameta#4545
  • Metals - update tests and make sure new features are supported chore: Test with Scala 3.8.4 scalameta/metals#8288
  • Mdoc - update tests chore: Test with Scala 3.8.4 scalameta/mdoc#1076
  • Open Community Build

• Prepare draft of announcement blogpost for 3.8.4 on https://docs.scala-lang.org/

• Announce the release

  • Publish release on GitHub Releases (as pre-release)
  • Create tracking thread on https://contributors.scala-lang.org