Software Engineering Stack Exchange
Software Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [versioning]

Versioning is the way in which successive versions of the same software are identified using unique version names or unique version numbers.

Versioning is the way in which successive versions of the same software are identified using unique version names or unique version numbers.

Depending on how the software is distributed or deployed, it can have an internal (unpublished) version and an external (published release) version or just a single version.

A typical versioning scheme includes a numeric major and minor version separated by a dot. This scheme may be completed with a numeric or alphanumeric patch level or a build number. 

Examples:   1.0
            2.1
            2.2a
            2.2.27

Usage of the tag

  • If the question is about the use of the Semantic Versioning standard for API, prefer the tag .

  • If the question is about the potential use of semantic versioning for other versioning purpose, use both tags and .

  • Do not use this tag for question about the management of source code versions; use instead.

See also

330 questions
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9 answers

Maintain hundreds of customized branches over master branch

Currently we have one master branch for our PHP application in a shared repository. We have more than 500 clients who are subscribers of our software, most of whom have some customization for different purposes, each in a separate branch. The…
Fernando Tan
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How do you achieve a numeric versioning scheme with Git?

My organization is considering moving from SVN to Git. One argument against moving is as follows: How do we do versioning? We have an SDK distribution based on the NetBeans Platform. As the SVN revisions are simple numbers we can use them to extend…
Erlend
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What "version naming convention" do you use?

Are different version naming conventions suited to different projects? What do you use and why? Personally, I prefer a build number in hexadecimal (e.g 11BCF), this should be incremented very regularly. And then for customers a simple 3 digit…
Richard Stelling
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What exactly is the build number in MAJOR.MINOR.BUILDNUMBER.REVISION

What I think about Build Numbers is that whenever a new nightly build is created, a new BUILDNUMBER is generated and assigned to that build. So for my 7.0 version application the nightly builds will be 7.0.1, 7.0.2 and so on. Is it so? Then what is…
A9S6
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Why is Java version 1.X referred to as Java X?

I saw that Java 1.2 is also known as Java 2. Do "Java 1.x" and "Java x" (for example "Java 1.6" and "Java 6") refer to the same version of Java? And if yes, why the need for this duality?
Federico Zancan
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61
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7 answers

At what point is version control needed?

I work in embedded systems. Right now, my organization has two full-time programmers and two occasional programmers. It's rare that the same project is worked on by two programmers. All code is stored on a network drive. There are folders for the…
Stephen Collings
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15 answers

Date as software version number

Software developers don't typically use date as version number, though YYYYMMDD format (or its variances) looks solid enough to use. Is there anything wrong with that scheme? Or does it apply to limited 'types' of software only (like in-house…
Donotalo
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9 answers

How to maintain different, customized versions of the same software for multiple clients

we have multiple clients with different needs. Although our software is modularized to a degree, it's almost certain that we need to adjust every module's business logic here and there a little for each customer. The changes are probably too tiny to…
Falcon
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2 answers

Why is build.number an "abuse" of semantic versioning?

I was explaining a proposed build system (Gradle/Artifactory/Jenkins/Chef) to one of our senior architects, and he made a comment to me that I sort of disagree with, but am not experienced enough to really weigh-in on. This project builds a Java…
herpylderp
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When do you change your major/minor/patch version number?

Possible Duplicate: What “version naming convention” do you use? Do you change your major/minor/patch version numbers right before you release or right after? Example: You just released 1.0.0 to the world (huzzah!). But wait, don't celebrate too…
dave4351
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What is the significance of reaching major version 1.0.0?

I have seen many open source projects being labelled as "not production ready" because they have not reached a major version e.g. 1.0.0 using semver. What is the significance of reaching this milestone? Is there a criteria that must be met for a…
spinners
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Should you version web applications?

I've recently had a discussion with a coworker about versioning web applications. I don't think you need it at all, and if you just want a sanity check to confirm your latest release is live, I think a date (YYMMDD) is probably good enough. Am I off…
John MacIntyre
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What does it mean by atomic commit for a versioning system?

One of the reasons why programmers prefer SVN over CVS is the former allows atomic commits ? What does this mean ?
Geek
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Does Semantic Versioning allow 4 components in version numbers?

All examples of semantic versioning I've seen show 3 components in use. No more than 2 period characters. At $DAYJOB, we use 4 components in our release numbers: 5.0.1.2 Does Semantic Versioning allow for this? And as a higher-level and more…
void.pointer
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Semantic versioning for desktop applications

I can easily follow the Semantic Versioning recommendations if I develop a library or API, but what if the developed product is a website or a desktop application? When would you increment a major component in that case? In case of a complete UI…
zerkms
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