Release notes are documents that are distributed with software products, often when the product is still in the development or test state (e.g., a beta release). For products that have already been in use by clients, the release note is a supplementary document that is delivered to the customer when a bug

Software bug

A software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...

 is fixed or an enhancement is made to the product.

Purpose and Responsibilities

Release notes are communication documents shared with customers and clients of an organization detailing the changes or enhancement made to the features of service or product the company provides. Thus this communication document is usually circulated only after the product or service is thoroughly tested and approved against the specification provided by the development team.

Release notes may be written by a technical writer

Technical writer

A technical writer is a professional writer who designs, creates, and maintains technical documentation...

 or any other member of the development or test team. Release notes can also contain test results and information about the test procedure

Software testing

Software testing is an investigation conducted to provide stakeholders with information about the quality of the product or service under test. Software testing can also provide an objective, independent view of the software to allow the business to appreciate and understand the risks of software...

. This kind of information gives readers of the release note more confidence in the fix/change done; this information also enables implementers of the change to conduct rudimentary acceptance tests. Release notes are also an excellent mechanism to feed the process of end user documentation; user guide

User guide

A user guide or user's guide, also commonly known as a manual, is a technical communication document intended to give assistance to people using a particular system...

s, marketing materials, and revisions

Revision tag

A revision tag is the term often used to define a textual label that can be associated with a specific revision of a project maintained by a revision control system. This allows the user to define a meaningful name to be given to a particular state of a project that is under version control...

to training materials.

External links

• http://templateforfree.com/software-release-management/