versioning

Versioning is the creation and management of multiple releases of a product, all of which have the same general function but are improved, upgraded or customized. The term applies especially to operating systems (OSs), software and Web services. Version control is the practice of ensuring collaborative data sharing and editing among users of systems that employ different versions of a product. The terms "versioning" and "version control" are sometimes used interchangeably even though their technical meanings are different.

In software versioning, subsequent releases of a specific product receive numerical identifiers consisting of two or three numbers separated by periods. The first number, called the major number, is increased when there are significant improvements or changes in functionality. The second number, called the minor number, is incremented when there are minor feature changes or significant fixes. The third number, if it exists, is called the revision number. It is added or increased when minor bugs are eliminated.

Read more about versioning: - B. Collins-Sussman, B. W. Fitzpatrick and C. M. Pilato describe an open-source version control system called Subversion. - D. Orchard discusses versioning in Extensible Markup Language (XML). - K. Brown and M. Ellis outline practices for Web services versioning.

Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know. Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com

Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us

RELATED CONTENT Polarion rolls out application lifecycle management platform Polarion ALM for Subversion 3.0, an integrated application lifecycle management platform, provides one interface and repository to eliminate problems... Xcitek makes software quality rebound The securities processing software maker increased software quality and customer satisfaction using QA tools from Compuware and a continuous... Planning requirements for multiple software product releases Most software products evolve over time. The challenge is planning the requirements for each release that satisfy the users and meet budget, schedule...