public function match(Version $version)
    {
        $versionStabilityIndex = array_search($version->getStability(), Version::$stabilities);
        $constraintStabilityIndex = array_search($this->stability, Version::$stabilities);

        if ($this->compare($versionStabilityIndex, $constraintStabilityIndex) !== 0) {
            return false;
        }

        $numericValues = $version->numeric();
        $comparisons = array();

        foreach ($this->version as $i => $value) {
            $comparisons[$i] = $this->compare($numericValues[$i], $value);
        }

        switch ($this->operator) {
            case '=': case '==':
                // all parts must be equal:
                return array_filter($comparisons) === array();
                break;
            case '!': case '!=':
                // any part must be unequal:
                return array_filter($comparisons) !== array();
                break;
            case '>=':
            case '<=':
            case '>':
            case '<':
                // the first mismatch is the tie breaker
                $mismatches = array_filter($comparisons);
                if (!count($mismatches)) {
                    // if no mismatches, only ok if equality operator
                    return in_array($this->operator, array('<=', '>='));
                } else {
                    $first = array_shift($mismatches);
                    return
                           ($this->operator === '<'  && $first < 0)
                        || ($this->operator === '<=' && $first < 0)
                        || ($this->operator === '>'  && $first > 0)
                        || ($this->operator === '>=' && $first > 0)
                    ;
                }
        }

        throw new \UnexpectedValueException("An unknown edge case was encountered. Is the constraint valid?");
    }