Release Version Identification

Software naming and version numbering might seem inconsequential, but small companies often run into difficulties by not properly identifying their releases. Poorly identified releases lead to wasted time and effort due to the following possible consequences:

  • Engineers add code to the wrong release.

  • Marketing sends the wrong information to customers about what is included in a release.

  • QA and engineers find bugs difficult to track down because of improper release identification.

  • Nobody knows which customer has which release.

Note

This issue is so common in small companies that this chapter provides an extended discussion of product numbering issues and practices.

While large firms usually apply a well-defined version numbering ...

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