Permissive package.json values are causing backward compatibility problems

[jdmarshall]

Bug Report

• I would like to work on a fix!

Current Behavior

babel/cli aggressively updates its dependencies, causing our minifier step to fail:

20-Mar-2020 14:18:08 Warning: Unknown helper createSuper Use --force to continue.

Input Code

• REPL or Repo link if applicable:

"dependencies": {
    "@babel/code-frame": "^7.0.0",
    "@babel/generator": "^7.2.2",
    "@babel/helpers": "^7.2.0",
    "@babel/parser": "^7.2.2",
    "@babel/template": "^7.2.2",
    "@babel/traverse": "^7.2.2",
    "@babel/types": "^7.2.2",

Using caret means that you have to maintain deep backward compatibility between versions. It would be easier for users if you were using tighter matching, like ~7.2.0 and updating on minor releases.

Expected behavior/code

Issues like #11292 would not happen if semver was being used more conservatively across the babel project.

Babel Configuration (babel.config.js, .babelrc, package.json#babel, cli command, .eslintrc)

• Filename: babel.config.js

{
  "your": { "config": "here" }
}

Environment

• Babel version(s): [e.g. v6.0.0, v7.0.0-beta.34]
• Node/npm version: [e.g. Node 8/npm 5]
• OS: [e.g. OSX 10.13.4, Windows 10]
• Monorepo: [e.g. yes/no/Lerna]
• How you are using Babel: [e.g. cli, register, loader]

Possible Solution

Additional context/Screenshots
Add any other context about the problem here. If applicable, add screenshots to help explain.

[babel-bot]

Hey @jdmarshall! We really appreciate you taking the time to report an issue. The collaborators on this project attempt to help as many people as possible, but we're a limited number of volunteers, so it's possible this won't be addressed swiftly.

If you need any help, or just have general Babel or JavaScript questions, we have a vibrant Slack community that typically always has someone willing to help. You can sign-up here for an invite."

[nicolo-ribaudo]

We do maintain backward compatibility: the createSuper error is just a bug. Bugs happen: ~ wouldn't have solved it because the bug could have been introduced in a patch release (rather than in 7.9.0).

We'll release the createSuper fix asap.

#11292 is another bug, fixed in @babel/preset-env 7.8.7.

[nicolo-ribaudo]

The fix is at #11298