What Does a 1.0 Version Number Mean?

Version numbers are highly subjective. For example. WordPress 3.3 Beta 1 was just released. What does that mean to you? Probably not a whole lot except for a promise of new features, but the version number means a lot to the WordPress contributors. We’ve already explained what Beta means (again, this is subjective). For example, Gmail was in beta for years.

Version Numbers are Subjective

Again, a version number attached to a product is subjective. There is an entire software engineering methodology surrounding software versioning. However, software engineering is very different from traditional engineering. If a dam collapses (Civil Engineering), it makes front-page news across the world. The only time a software failure makes the news is when there is a very visible failure. For example, N.A.S.A.’s Mars orbiter made front-page news when it crashed. The crash is what made the news, but it wasn’t determined until afterward that it was a software error. What I’m getting at is Software Engineering is very fluid. While Software Engineering is definitely an engineering discipline, it’s hard to compare software to traditional and sound engineering principles. At PluginBuddy, we don’t necessarily follow any versioning methodology. We’ve basically come up with our own.

So what does a 1.0 release mean to us?

A 1.0 release is us making a “little bet” on a product we think you will like, but aren’t quite sure. A lot of the stuff we’re doing hasn’t been done before. When we release a 1.0 product, we are putting our feelers (think ants) out there and trying to see what kind of feedback is available. If the product takes off, great. We improve upon it, make it better, and eventually craft out a very mature product. As a side note, a 1.0 version does indeed mean the software is very fresh. It’s new, and people who have experience in software realize that. All software has bugs. Some bugs we simply do not fix because there’s a huge risk in introducing even more bugs (ever play the game Alligator at an amusement park?).

Little Bets

One book that we recommend is entitled, “Little Bets.” The premise of the book is that you should put a product out there, gauge the reaction, and improve upon it. BackupBuddy was one of our “Little Bets”. It didn’t skyrocket into the stratosphere. But it gained traction, and now it is one of our top-selling WordPress backup plugins and is still a long ways away from reaching its peak. When we release a 1.0 version, we’re confident that we’ve eliminated all known issues. However, there will be bugs (great movie title?). But we’re pretty at ease in knowing that for most people, the product is stable.

We love your feedback!

At iThemes, we LOVE feedback. Keep it coming. Positive, negative (we prefer constructive)… we don’t care. Your feedback is what has shaped us from the very beginning. And your feedback will continue shaping us. So when we release a 1.0 product and it doesn’t quite do what you want, let us know. We are building this product for YOU. And we want to make YOU happy. So keep the feedback coming! And we hope to see you around for many years to come.