How do they know what version of the program it is?

Question

All programs have a version like 7.2 or 1.255 etc
How do they name them?

If I hadn't seen versions like 4.53
I would think it goes like 1.0 > 1.1 > 1.2 etc

So how does it work?

Answer 1

There is no universal standard - the 7.2 would be as you expected it to be, a true product version.



The 1.255, etc. often reflects build numbers for the software. So, if you get people who do daily (or more) builds it is not strange to see a 4 digit release number like 7.1235



It really is dependant on the software supplier. Some use version numbers based on product release, some will use them based on the version of the software tested and don't hide the mutiple build cycles.



We actually had 3 sets of digits at an old company MM.mm.pp where MM is major release, mm is minor release, pp is a patch release. Internally we would also add a -#### which was build number but that was stripped before it was sent out to customers.

Answer 2

Well, anything less then 1.0 would be in a beta type state. 1.0 would be first release.



A the decimals are saying there have been minor updates/tweeks/whatever, but not enough was done to call it a new version.



Now, I'm not sure if it's actually a decimal, or a seperater though. It could be in a textbook where they have chapter, section, 1.1,1.2,1.3,...,1.9,1.10, even though 1.1 and 1.10 would be the same number mathematically speaking.



But I think it's probably a decimal. So when you're getting to updates smaller than the tenths digit, then you know it's really really tiny update. Maybe just a security patch or something.

Answer 3

Software versioning is the process of assigning either unique version names or unique version numbers to unique states of computer software. Within a given version number category (major, minor), these numbers are generally assigned in increasing order and correspond to new developments in the software. At a fine-grained level, revision control is often used for keeping track of incrementally different versions of electronic information, whether or not this information is actually computer software.