Thursday, March 18, 2010

Release Naming Strategy

This is my preferred Release Naming Strategy. Not a big deal if you disagree, at least you have a template so you can document your strategy.

Externally:
<major>.<minor>.<patch>
ex. 1.03.8

Internally:
<major>.<minor>.<patch>-<hudson-build-number>
ex. 1.03.8-27

<major> - Introduces major new functionality and often involves marketing. Resets the minor number to 00 and patch number to 0.
ex. 2.00.0 (May be referred to as the “2.0” release.)

<minor> - Indicates an addition of some features. Always two digits with pre-fixing zero for numbers less than ten. Releases should sort numerically, not alphabetically. This allows for a buffer of incremental minor releases before incrementing the major number which has different perception to the end user. Resets the patch number to 0.
ex. 1.09.0, 1.10.0, 1.11.0 (May refer to 1.11.0 as the “1.11” release.)

<patch> - Indicate a fix (ie. fixing a bug, improving performance, or an internal change without impacting functionality such as logging). Goes up by one every time a patch is officially added to the version. Use a single digit here because you should not have as many as 10 unplanned patches prior to a minor release.
ex. 1.03.1, 1.03.2, 1.03.3 and so on

Release Notes Template with Example


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Monday, March 1, 2010

Jackrabbit JCR: Part 1 - Getting Started

Working at Quick Solutions, I have become an expert on the Java Content Repository. Many wish to stand-up a repository but reading through mounds of documentation is often too great a barrier. What if it were as simple as download and start? Well here you go!

Start the Repository
  1. Download jackrabbit-standalone. Unzip it.
  2. At a command prompt in the unzipped directory, type:
    > startRepo
Tools to Communicate with the Repository
  1. A Web browser. Browse to http://localhost:8123/
    Click "Browse" along the left menu.
  2. A WebDAV Client. Download AnyClient. (Freeware)

    Host: http://localhost:8123/repository/default/
    Username: admin
    Password: admin
    Connection type: WebDAV

  3. Command line. Download jcr-commands. (I can't take credit for this. License Info here.)
    At a command prompt in the unzipped bin directory, type:
    > run
    For this tool you must connect through RMI, not HTTP, so type:
    > connect rmi://localhost:1099/jackrabbit
    > login admin admin
    > ls
  4. Java Code. Download JcrTalker. Unzip it.
    At a command prompt in the unzipped directory, type (notice the trailing slash):
    > groovy JcrTalker.groovy /

(Note: The .bat files used above can easily be translated to shell scripts or Mac scripts to suit your non-windows needs.)
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