Release Cycle

Introduction

Purpose

This document defines the versioning and release cycle intended for the Dissolve project.

Scope

This document describes and defines the release cycle and versioning for the Dissolve project in more detail, suitable for users, contributors, and developers.

Overview

Dissolve is a scientific code with a well-defined underlying framework (which is likely to change slowly) upon which specific functionality is added in a modular manner. Each minor version increment (e.g. 0.7 to 0.8) typically marks the introduction of a significant new feature or capability, with development priorities for each incremental version decided by the project management committee. Critical bugfixes and other usability issues are introduced as patched versions to minor releases (e.g. 0.8.1, 0.8.2).