Release tags and changelog

[xxv]

Release tags and changelog

[xxv]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. The diagram has the text v0.9.0 on it already.

[axd1967]

why not storing changes in the tags, and viewing the Tags/Releases pages (https://github.com/xxv/android-lifecycle/tags), as done e.g here: https://github.com/botherder/detekt/tags ?

oddly enough, the diagram shows a version number, but there are no tags...

[johnjohndoe]

This is a matter of taste. I prefer a plain text file such as CHANGELOG.md since it allows me to move the repository to any place while taking the changelog with me. GitHub release tags are nice but can only be used with this service.

[xxv]

I added a tag for the one version I've got now and will add more as more revisions get made. I'm not going to add a CHANGELOG.md, though, as that's what commit messages and/or tag messages are for.

[johnjohndoe]

Please also add the tag to the graphic.

[johnjohndoe]

Awesome! Sorry, I did not see it.

[axd1967]

exactly - a CHANGELOG document is just a duplicated effort; and carrying whatever around can be done far more efficiently by carrying e.g. a git bundle, then you have everything.

plus, the changelog is actually what GitHub produces when showing the release page (https://github.com/xxv/android-lifecycle/releases)

[johnjohndoe]

I consider a CHANGELOG a well-formed summary of the most important changes. It is - so to say - a textual description of the public interface for other developers. Commit messages contain much more detail and not all these information are of interest for "users".

[axd1967]

You are right - except that that changelog summary can be written in a tag.

but indeed, if there is a need to provide the info to the end user (and I do not refer to a developer, but e.g. a user consulting a website) , then some kind of file is needed.

if the intention is to present CHANGELOG info to a developer, the tag is one of the few places to store that info.

but agreed, the inconvenience is that the changelog info is not available without Git. but someone who cannot use Git will not be able to use the repository, so that's not a real issue.

[johnjohndoe]

Please do not mistake GitHub for Git. You can put the notes in:

• CHANGELOG.md (finally added to the Git repository)
• Git tags (part of the Git repository)
• GitHub release notes (not part of the Git repository)

Only the first and the second will go with the repository. The last one will stay at github.com.

[axd1967]

Ah yes, I didn't even think of GitHub - but that's indeed yet another factor :-)