Developer Changelog Glossary

Definitions of the terms developer teams use when talking about changelogs, release notes, and shipping software.

Changelog Fundamentals

Changelog The running log of changes a product ships over time, organized by release.
Changelog vs Release Notes Changelog = the running log of all changes; release notes = the subset for a specific version.
Release Notes The per-release subset of a changelog, written for the audience consuming a specific version.

Release Engineering

Breaking Change A change that requires consumers to update their code, config, or workflow to keep working.
Canary Release A deployment pattern that rolls a new version to a small subset of users first and expands only if metrics hold.
Release Train A fixed-cadence release model where the schedule never slips and features that aren't ready wait for the next train.

Developer Process

Distribution

Product Update The umbrella term for any communication about a software change — covering release notes, changelogs, in-app announcements, and marketing emails.

Quality & Trust

Deprecation Policy A published commitment about how a product marks, supports, and removes features being phased out.