My software version reasoning.
I’d bet a golden monkey on the claim that I have wrote more code on a computer in the past decade than I have spoken or written normal English. One of my first coding projects was a web browser that took up so much space it wouldn’t even fit on a CD - and that was in 1998 (meaning it was bloated). Another project I remember was trying to replicate the Mac OS 8 GUI in HyperCard on the 5400 in computer lab 121 at my old middle school. Good times..
(A side note in between thoughts.. I’d ask to be driven to school 2 hours early, and stayed four hours late, on average. I’d get on any computer I could find, which mostly meant an All-in-One G3 or the 5400 I mentioned above.)
So I’ve wrote a lot of software, and with each new compilation (complication?) comes a new version number. But what do those numbers mean? Well, there are standards, but most of the time those numbers are so arbitrary that they lose meaning. I’ve developed my own system, as follows:
Seven numbers, when put together, provide me with a crystal-clear understanding of a project at any period throughout it’s lifetime. For instance I still remember a calendar application I wrote last year.. all 200 editions! Would I remember this if I had assigned a confusing version number to each version? I doubt it.
So heres what the numbers mean, in detail:
Major Version: An executable product that has been ’shipped’ and ready for sale. Commercial grade, this release number indicates that I’ve tested the program under as many conditions as I can and that every feature included works as it was designed to. (More on my design process in another post)
Minor Version (feature revision): This number goes from 0 to 9, and indicates that a new feature has been included in the major version ‘branch’ and its been tested and working as it should. It also means that all documented bugs have been fixed. These are usually free for the customer when they buy the major version.
Code Change: (bug fixing): The higher, the better, as this number indicates how fast the bug fixing is going for the entire major version branch. Averaging out at around 250, it’s been as high as 2000 :(. These sometimes aren’t actively released to anyone other than testers but customers can request a copy.
Compiled Executable (testing code): This number goes up whenever I type a line of code and compile it. I’m nuts so it could be as high as 20,000!
And so, that wraps up this incredibly boring story that was in my mind recently, as I’ve been prepping for the release of Landing Page Composer 2.0. I’ve put in a good dozen or so features in the past 2 weeks, as well as completely redesigned the user interface using a Flash-based concept. Heres a screen shot comparing version 1.5.5 (really 1.5.5.275) and 2.0 (2.0.1.713)
Version one
Version two
I’ll post more about all this later. Let me know what you think!
If you've enjoyed this post, please curl up in the fetal position and rock yourself to sleep. it's what I do when I enjoyzZZZzzzz....
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