Merge pull request #110 from nulib/versioning-draft-doc

Add script versioning process

Author: alec-bertoy

docs/script-dev-process.md

@@ -22,8 +22,43 @@ Summer quarter should be relatively quiet and used for reviewing scripts and thi
 
 Production scripts should be on Github and clearly identified as the official versions 
 A folder named “Staging” should be used for all scripts that are in development/testing 
- 
+
+## Versioning
+
+Versioning should follow the semantic versioning format (ex. 1.4.10) where numbers correspond to major update, minor update, and patch (left to right).
+
 ## Development Process
+
+**Major update**: adds new functionality and breaks old functionality  
+**Minor update**: adds new functionality without breaking old functionality  
+**Patch**: no new functionality, just a fix or small change  
+
+### Minor and Major Updates
+
+1. Create a new branch with the name of the prerelease version.
+    - preminor example : 8.4.1 -> 8.5.0a0
+    - premajor example: 8.4.1 -> 9.0.0a0
+2. Update the poetry project version with `poetry version preminor`, `poetry version premajor`, or `poetry version prerelease`
+3. Merge work into prerelease branch.
+    - Note: it may be helpful to move to break up the update into multiple prereleases as work is done.
+    - example: 8.5.0a0 -> 8.5.0a1
+4. Proceed with testing when ready.
+    - If testing fails, go back to step 3 and work on fixes.
+5. When testing passes, create a pull request into main and merge when reviews pass.
+
+### Patches
+Note: This section is only relevant if no prerelease is currently being worked on.
+
+1. Create a new branch with the name of the patch. Be consise and descriptive, use all lowercase, no special characters except dashes
+    - patch example : 8.4.1 -> 8.4.2
+2. Update the version in this branch with `poetry version patch`
+3. Merge work into patch branch.
+4. Proceed with testing when ready.
+    - If testing fails, go back to step 3 and work on fixes.
+5. When testing passes, create a pull request into main and merge when reviews pass.
+
+### Testing
+
 The development process should involve two types of review: 
 
 1. Review by another person doing scripting