def METHOD_NAME(self):
    """
    Parse the version string to an object representing the version.
    This does some minimal string processing, stripping any prefix set on
    project.
    Returns:
        str: The version string. Sub-classes may return a different type.
        object: Sub-classes may return a special class that represents the
        version. This must support comparison operations and return
        a parsed, prefix-stripped version when ``__str__`` is invoked.
    Raises:
        InvalidVersion: If the version cannot be parsed.
    """
    # If there's a prefix set on the project, strip it if it's present
    version = self.version
    for prefix in self.prefixes:
        if prefix and self.version.startswith(prefix):
            version = self.version[len(prefix) :].strip()
    # Many projects prefix their tags with 'v', so strip it if it's present
    if v_prefix.match(version):
        version = version[1:]
    return version