dooper3 Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 This may seem like a simple and meaningless question to you all, but it is something that has intrigued me for a while... What is the correct protocol for version numbering for software etc. (i.e. when do you call something v1.7, v1.8, v1.9 etc. and when and why would you change the numbering to v2.0 etc.)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_versioning - should help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirkules Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 I used to work for a large company that had four numbers in the version, i.e. 10.1.2.3. The first number is a major release, the number after that is a minor release, maintenance release, and testing release. Major release is when there is a significant restructure of the core of the components in a system. Minor changes several components. Maintenance fixes bugs in components. Etc... A good way to think of a major release is when a company makes a completely new product, new packaging, etc. For instance, Windows XP is a major release, SP1, 2, and 3 are minor releases, patches are maintenance releases, and, I believe, testing releases are RC's. These numbers are also used to identify how much regression testing should be done. For example, in a major release, generally the entire system is tested end-to-end. In a maintenance release, only that module is tested. In fact, sometimes these version numbers are used to bypass a part of testing to save time (tsk tsk) in order to meet deadlines. Back to the point, versioning can be completely subjective, and for our purposes two numbers is plenty. Generally, something becomes 1.0 once it works as requested in the requirements documents. Any FIXES after that go under 1.x (and there can be more than 10, i.e. 1.10, 1.11 1.20 is not unusual). A collection of new features or a major new feature warrants a new Major Release. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tibberous Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Change the big number when you want to get press, or to be on par with your competitors. Edit: or if you are changing the api. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dooper3 Posted February 5, 2008 Author Share Posted February 5, 2008 Thanks for your input, think i'm sorted now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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