ReleaseCharakteristik

ReleaseCharakteristik is a concept used in software engineering and product management to describe the attributes of a particular release of a software product or system. It encompasses the information that defines what the release contains, how it behaves, and under what conditions it operates in production. The term emphasizes characteristics relevant to stakeholders such as developers, testers, operations teams, and customers.

Typical attributes of a ReleaseCharakteristik include version number, release date, scope of changes and feature set, compatibility and dependencies, target platforms and environments, performance and reliability targets, security posture, regulatory or compliance considerations, known issues and risk, and installation, upgrade, and rollback procedures, along with accompanying documentation. Documentation elements commonly associated with ReleaseCharakteristik are release notes, a dedicated release characteristics document, and linkage to test results, risk assessments, and rollback plans. These characteristics are versioned and stored in configuration and change-management systems.

ReleaseCharakteristik is used throughout the release lifecycle: planning, build, test, deployment, and post-release review. It supports decision making, risk assessment, and communication with stakeholders, and enables automation of release-related processes such as deployment scripts and feature toggles. In practice, ReleaseCharakteristik is distinct from but closely related to release notes and the overall release plan; notes describe changes, while the characteristics describe the expected behavior and constraints of the release.

See also: release management, release notes, configuration management.