Software versioning
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- Snippet from Wikipedia: Software versioning
Software versioning is the process of assigning unique version names or unique version numbers to unique states of computer software. The most widely adopted scheme for version numbers is known as semantic versioning (SemVer), which comprises a three-part version number (Major.Minor.Patch), an optional pre-release tag (e.g. alpha, beta), and an optional build meta tag. A fourth number may also be used to denote the software build, as was the case for Adobe Flash. Some companies also rely on the build date, in a system known as calendar versioning, and letters and other characters, such as Lotus 1-2-3 Release 1a.
Most free and open-source software packages, including MediaWiki, treat versions as a series of individual numbers, separated by periods, with a progression such as 1.8.1, 1.9.0. On the other hand, some software packages identify releases by decimal numbers: 1.8, 1.81, 1.82. Developers may choose to jump multiple minor versions at a time to indicate that significant features have been added or for marketing purposes. Version numbers are often used to identify copies of a software product and compare them against another copy in a collaborative version control system.
Within software development teams, version control is used to keep track of incrementally-different versions of information in order to be able to roll any changes back. Modern computer software is often tracked using two different software versioning schemes: an internal version number, which may be incremented many times in a single day, and a release version, which typically changes far less often.
Historically, file numbers were especially used in public administration and corporations to uniquely identify files or cases. This practice was introduced to computer files for the first time with MIT's ITS file system, later the TENEX file system for the PDP-10 in 1972. In the 21st century, more programmers started to use a standardized version policy, such as the semantic versioning policy, which is particularly useful when using software libraries, frameworks, and command-line applications.