Software Development Timeline
From Computing Knowledgebase
Contents |
[edit] Software Development Timeline
There are Many Stages on a typical Timeline:
- Pre-Alpha
- Alpha
- Beta
- Preview Release
- Release Candidate
- Final Release
- Additional Release
[edit] Pre-Alpha Stage
Pre-Alpha is the stage of collating together Ideas, sometimes with code written, but not always.
[edit] Alpha Stage
In this stage, some preliminary code has been written, and implemented, although not a great deal of stability can be expected.
[edit] Beta Stage
In Beta Stage, most of the code has been written and implemented, with a reasonable level of usability expected, although some errors can, and usually will be experienced. Even in Beta Stage, the software's design is by no means finalised.
[edit] Preview Release
A Preview Release is one step down from a Release Candidate, and is not an often used stage. The Mozilla Firefox development team used a Preview Release for their Version 1.0 Release.
[edit] Release Candidate
When a Release Candidate is used, it's design is usually finalised, with about 95% of the code finalised. Release Candidates are designed to iron out last minute Showstopper bugs. You normally get a pattern like this:
- Release Candidate 1
- Release Candidate 2
- Release Candidate 3
There is no set guideline on how many Release Candidates should be released. However, in a few instances, such as with large-scale development projects, you may see this pattern:
- Release Candidate 0
- Release Candidate 1
- Release Candidate 2
- Release Candidate 3
Notice the inclusion of RC0. A Release Candidate 0 is designed to give Hardware Manufacturers, Software Developers, and Driver Compilers time to adjust to a new software programming model. For Microsoft, only two products have used an RC0 Stage:
[edit] Final Release
This is it, the big one-zero. Version 1.0, as it's typically referred to, is a much-revered status for any Software application. For example, The Mozilla Firefox community paid special attention to their Version 1.0. Another Software product approaching Version 1.0 Status is nLite
[edit] Additional Release
And of Course, Version 1.0 won't be the last release for a product. Other Versions may go like this:
- Version 1.01
- Version 1.02
- Version 1.03
Or, they may go like this:
- Version 1.1
- Version 1.2
- Version 1.3
It's all up to the developer, but most tend to agree, the larger the change, the higher up the increments go.
