Posted in plone, python on August 17, 2009 by toutpt I often see lots of information about version number on release. I would like to explain it. For sure their is lots of different use case but here, I speak about a code you are writing and want to package.
For me there are 4 parts:
- Major version number
- Feature version indice
- Current level of release
- Status of the release
Major version number is about layout or about backward compatibility. When you change that number it means you have totaly change most of things or you have broke the layout because you have done a big mistake and you don’t have other choice. For example Zope 2.X.X and Zope 3.X.X.
Feature version indice is all about features. For me this number is increased when you have added feature(s). For example adding undo/redo to the software.
Current level of release is all about bug fixes. For example an i18n broken reported by someone.
The status is a character or a work like beta, rc, … and is all about release status. The order is:
- alpha (a) often means only for developers, first calls for testing (try to install)
- beta (b) often it is used to call for testing (install and use it)
- candidate (c or rc) means no more bugs reported just about packaging and last call for testing
I m sure there are some formals paper around Internet that explains this a lot better, but I was just wanting to explain my point of view.