version Number and build

[sreeramvenky]

Who will give the version number to the build and when will they change the version number?

[bizzzzzare]

Hi,

Version number to the Build is assigned by either Development team or there is a seperate team called as Application Packaging that decides the Version number in association with the Dev team.

Generally Build Number is incremented whenever the bugs found warrant changes to the Application code in such a manner that they have to deploy the code again. Under these circumstances they create a new build.

Incase the bugs found can be corrected with just simply changing pieces of code that do not require complete re-deployment or re-building of code, the version number would remain the same.

Cheers....

[sridharrganesan]

Hi Venky,

Version Number to the Build will be Application Packaging team or the Team in charge of Releasing in most of the situations, some times it was also done by the Development Team.

Version number is incremented by one number for each and every release. At the start of the application goes to testing it will start with the version number 1.0. For each and every release it will be incremented by one. This is done in the SDLC which follows iterative method. The incrementation is to indicate that the scheduled changes are done to the system in one version and it is tested, and simultaneouly the changes are done to the system in the forthcoming builds and subsequently tested.

The version is not necessarily to be incremented by one number, some times it is also incremented in the points, this will happen in the case of Defects found in the current build or testing activity abondoned due to application not stable.

For example, the version 1.0.0 is released for testing and it is not necessarily the next version should be 1.1.0, it may also be 1.0.1 in case of defects or bug encountered in the release 1.0.0 and it is fixed and retested in the version 1.0.1. In this version the defects and corresponding regression test cases are executed along with the sanity testing. This version 1.0.1 is called as Patches whereas, the version 1.0.0 is called as Build.

Hope this would have made you clear!!!

Regards,
Ganesan

[Anshoo_Arora]

bizzzzzare and sridharrganesan have explained it very well!

In the company I work for, there are several simultaneous projects going on (close to 10 right now). So, instead of having the Dev. team handle code deployment in the QA environment, we have a Build Engineer and all he does is take code from the Dev. team, assign it a build, forward a copy of the report to the Tech Lead & Project Manager and ultimately deploy it in our environment.

[Mena1710]

Hi

Version number is one of the important things in build release as it keeps track of all changes in the code. As said by our forum mates, mostly in big organisation it is done by seperate team called, Release team, Packaging team and this entire process is called build management

WE have been following the below method for versioning
1.It is basically a 4 digit version method for the build eg. X1.X2.X3.X4
2. X1 - This is the basic version of the build. Imagine this is a new project or release, we give a number 1
3.X2 - This digit changes when any major change is there in the build
4. X3 - This digit changes for Minor changes
5. X4. - This digit changes for each fixes

For eg, imagine u r developing a project for insurance domain, where in we have many Insurance company which access a common feature or profile.

In the above scenario we will start versioning as 1.0.0.0
If there is going to be any fixes, then the version of the build changes to 1.0.0.1
As we add a new insurance company, the version changes as 1.0.1.0
Imagine if there is going to be a basic change in the entire code then version changes 1.1.0.0

Process:
Once the Dev team develops a build, this is sent to the configuration management team. They maintain a document, of version, the change, module, release details etc. This details of build is stored in server and viewable by all. So that when ever there is a issue, it is enough if we have a look at the history and pull out that particular version and deliver.

This is the main advantage of versioning