Semantic versioning uses three numbers separated with a dot (.) to indicate the version of the software. These numbers have their own purpose of indicating a type of change. In some use cases semantic versioning could also take advantage of alphanumerics but Frends only allows positive integers.

The format of semantic versioning is X.Y.Z where X indicates major, Y indicates minor and Z indicates build.

The major number is always incremented when the solution update is backwards incompatible. The number zero in major indicates that the solution is for initial development only, it could change at anytime, and should not be considered stable.

The minor number is incremented when outwards compatibility remains but the internal functionality changes.

The build number is incremented whenever there are any patches or bug fixes keeping the solution functionality basically the same.

In Frends, the semantic versioning has some nuances compared to traditional text book semantic versioning and those will be covered in the following modules.

The next article is Best practices on Versioning of Processes and Subprocesses