Version

A version is a designation that identifies a specific state of a component—such as software, a document, or a standard—at a point in time. It helps communicate changes, track compatibility, and reference a precise snapshot in development, release, or deployment. Versions differ from editions, releases, and revisions, which have more specific meanings in different contexts.

Version numbers commonly follow schemes that convey the kind of changes. The most widespread in software is semantic versioning: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH, with optional pre-release and build metadata (for example, 3.2.1, 3.2.1-beta, or 3.2.1+build.201). A major increment signals breaking changes, a minor increment adds backwards-compatible features, and a patch adds backwards-compatible fixes.

Version control systems (VCS) such as Git or SVN record histories of files, enabling rollback, branching, and tagging. A release tag marks a particular commit as a version. Dependency managers use version constraints to ensure compatibility when assembling software stacks. Some projects use date-based versions (for example, 2024.11.01) as an alternative, offering a timestamped sense of progression.

Etymology: version derives from Latin versio, meaning "a turning" or "a turning to a different form." In practice, versioning provides traceability, compatibility guarantees, and coordination among contributors, users, and downstream projects across software, documents, and standards.