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Software Engineering vocabulary · Release and Maintenance

Release notes

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

nounCore term

In software engineering, release notes means: A short document published with a new version of software that lists new features, bug fixes, known issues and other changes users should know about.

In Turkish: sürüm notları, yayın notları

How it is used

Written for users or customers, so the language is simpler than in a changelog. Always plural. Common phrases: 'write the release notes', 'see the release notes', 'mentioned in the release notes'. Reading them before an upgrade helps you spot breaking changes.

Example sentences

  1. Can you write the release notes for version 3.2 in plain language for our customers?

  2. According to the release notes, the old login API will be removed next year.

Common collocations

  • write release notes
  • publish release notes
  • according to the release notes
  • release notes for version
  • releaseA version of a product that is made available to users, or the act of making it available. Also a verb: to release a new version.
  • changelogA file or page that lists the notable changes in each version of a project, usually with the newest version first. It is often named CHANGELOG.md.
  • breaking changeA change to an API, library or file format that makes existing code that uses it stop working unless that code is updated too.
  • documentationWritten material that explains how software works and how to use, set up or change it, such as guides, API references and README files.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Release and Maintenance

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