Why are there so many Livecode versions?

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dbeugeling
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Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 12:22 pm

Why are there so many Livecode versions?

Post by dbeugeling » Mon Feb 05, 2018 8:14 pm

Hello,

I wonder why you are developing so many versions of Livecode.
8.18 (Stable)
8.19
8.20
9.00

This is confusing for me as you are presenting them not chronological.
Because Xcode gets updated now and then, I work with a newer Livecode.

Is it not better to concentrate your manpower on one Version?

sincerely,

D. Beugeling

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Re: Why are there so many Livecode versions?

Post by FourthWorld » Mon Feb 05, 2018 8:58 pm

In broad terms, as with most software LC has two main version at any given time, which we could think of as Now and Next.

The Now version is the most recent build labeled "Stable", with Next being the next highest version number. In this context, Stable refers to the feature set; once any version is marked Stable, new features go into Next.

From time to time, bug fixes may be identified in a Stable release which are too important to put off until Next is ready, so we sometimes see incremental builds which are generally bug-fix-only releases.

I find it most productive to always do my development in the most recent Next build, which is currently the 9.0 series, and ship any deliverables needed for customers using the most recent Stable build.

If I find that a given Stable build has an issue that affects a given app I need to deploy, I'll move up to a more recent incremental build within the same series (e.g., currently 8.2).

This not only simplifies my workflow by requiring me to only think about two builds at a time, but also ensures that any issues I find will be addressed in time to be included in the next feature release.

But none of that matters to the team: their Github-based workflow allows branching with automated upwards merging, so that any fixes introduced in a given build are carried forward into future builds.

In short, you needn't worry about the team's management of multiple versions, since they made these choices to simplify their own work while delivering the highest quality they can as quickly as possible to us.
Richard Gaskin
LiveCode development, training, and consulting services: Fourth World Systems
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