What is versioning?
Versioning is the practice of assigning a unique code to each iteration of a software, such as Mac OS Catalina 10.5.7.
This allows developers to track and manage changes between versions, ensuring backward compatibility across different versions to facilitate a smooth transition when introducing changes or enhancements. Versioning enables a structured approach to managing changes, tracking compatibility, and communicating updates to users and stakeholders.
The three forms of versioning
Major releases: Involves a substantial update to the software. It often includes incompatible updates with a pre-existing system and a restructure, significant code change, or even a code overhaul by a developer.
Minor releases: Involves a moderate upgrade to the software and requires a developer to alter code, such as adding new functionality, reorganizing code, or breaking changes that aren’t overly difficult to resolve.
Patch releases: Involves a small update that doesn’t require a developer to alter code, such as a bug fix.
Versioning is crucial to managing compatibility between different software components and systems. For example, it ensures that APIs built on previous versions will work with newer versions, and vice versa.
This makes versioning essential to API management, a cornerstone practice for ensuring efficient development, release management, and transitioning between software iterations without disruptions. API providers should provide the latest information on API versions in their API documentation housed in the developer portal.
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