Alpha
发布生命周期的 alpha 阶段是开始软件测试的第一个阶段(alpha 是希腊字母表的第一个字母，用作数字 1).在这个阶段，开发人员通常使用白盒技术测试软件.然后由另一个测试团队使用黑盒或灰盒技术执行额外的验证.在组织内部进行黑盒测试称为 alpha 版本

Alpha
The alpha phase of the release life cycle is the first phase to begin software testing (alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, used as the number 1). In this phase, developers generally test the software using white-box techniques. Additional validation is then performed using black-box or gray-box techniques, by another testing team. Moving to black-box testing inside the organization is known as alpha release

Alpha 版软件可能不稳定，并可能导致崩溃或数据丢失.Alpha 版软件可能不包含为最终版本计划的所有功能.一般来说，在专有软件中，alpha 软件的外部可用性并不常见，而开源软件通常具有公开可用的 alpha 版本.Alpha 阶段通常以功能冻结结束，这表明不会向软件添加更多功能.目前，该软件据说功能齐全.

Alpha software can be unstable and could cause crashes or data loss. Alpha software may not contain all of the features that are planned for the final version. In general, external availability of alpha software is uncommon in proprietary software, while open source software often has publicly available alpha versions. The alpha phase usually ends with a feature freeze, indicating that no more features will be added to the software. At this time, the software is said to be feature complete.

测试版
Beta，以希腊字母的第二个字母命名，是继 alpha 之后的软件开发阶段.Beta 阶段的软件也称为 betaware.Beta 阶段通常在软件功能完整但可能包含许多已知或未知错误时开始.处于测试阶段的软件通常比已完成的软件有更多的错误，以及速度/性能问题，并且仍可能导致崩溃或数据丢失.Beta 测试的重点是减少对用户的影响，通常包括可用性测试.向用户提供 beta 版本的过程称为 beta 版本，这通常是软件第一次在开发它的组织之外可用.Beta 版软件通常可用于组织内的演示和预览以及潜在客户.一些开发人员将此阶段称为预览、预览发布、原型、技术预览/技术预览 (TP) 或早期访问.一些软件处于永久测试阶段，新特性和功能不断地添加到软件中，而没有建立一个确定的最终"版本.释放.

Beta
Beta, named after the second letter of the Greek alphabet, is the software development phase following alpha. Software in the beta stage is also known as betaware. The beta phase generally begins when the software is feature complete but likely to contain a number of known or unknown bugs. Software in the beta phase will generally have many more bugs in it than completed software, as well as speed/performance issues and may still cause crashes or data loss. The focus of beta testing is reducing impacts to users, often incorporating usability testing. The process of delivering a beta version to the users is called beta release and this is typically the first time that the software is available outside of the organization that developed it. Beta version software is often useful for demonstrations and previews within an organization and to prospective customers. Some developers refer to this stage as a preview, preview release, prototype, technical preview/technology preview (TP), or early access. Some software is kept in perpetual beta, where new features and functionality are continually added to the software without establishing a firm "final" release.

Beta 测试人员是积极报告 Beta 软件问题的人.他们通常是开发软件的组织的客户或潜在客户的代表.Beta 测试人员倾向于免费自愿提供服务，但通常会收到他们测试的产品版本、发布版本的折扣或其他奖励.

Beta testers are people who actively report issues of beta software. They are usually customers or representatives of prospective customers of the organization that develops the software. Beta testers tend to volunteer their services free of charge but often receive versions of the product they test, discounts on the release version, or other incentives.

随着 Internet 促进了软件的快速和廉价分发，公司已开始对beta"一词的使用采取更宽松的方法.2005 年 2 月，ZDNet 发表了一篇关于最近出现的现象，即 Beta 版本经常停留数年并被用作生产级别，被轻蔑地称为永久 beta".它指出，例如，Gmail 和谷歌新闻已经处于测试阶段很长一段时间，尽管它们被广泛使用，但预计不会放弃测试状态；但是，Google 新闻确实在 2006 年 1 月离开了测试版，随后在 2009 年 7 月，包括 Gmail 在内的 Google Apps 也于 2009 年 7 月离开了测试版.这种技术可能会导致开发人员延迟提供全面支持和对剩余问题的责任.在 Web 2.0 的背景下，人们甚至谈论永久 beta 以表示某些软件旨在保持在 beta 状态.此外，β"有时用于表示更像发布候选的东西，或作为限时演示或营销技术的一种形式.自推出 Windows 8 以来，微软不再将其软件命名为 beta.相反，他们一直在对大多数预发布软件使用术语预览.自 2014 年推出 Windows 预览体验计划以来，通过该计划发布的所有预发布版本都称为 Insider Preview 版本.

As the Internet has facilitated the rapid and inexpensive distribution of software, companies have begun to take a looser approach to the use of the word "beta". In February 2005, ZDNet published an article about the recent phenomenon of a beta version often staying for years and being used as if it were at the production level, disparagingly called "perpetual beta". It noted that Gmail and Google News, for example, had been in beta for a long period of time and were not expected to drop the beta status despite the fact that they were widely used; however, Google News did leave beta in January 2006, followed by Google Apps, including Gmail, in July 2009. This technique may allow a developer to delay offering full support and responsibility for remaining issues. In the context of Web 2.0, people even talk of perpetual betas to signify that some software is meant to stay in a beta state. Also, "beta" is sometimes used to indicate something more like a release candidate, or as a form of time-limited demo, or marketing technique. Since the introduction of Windows 8, Microsoft has no longer been naming its software as a beta. Instead, they have been using the term preview for most pre-release software. Since the launch of the Windows Insider Program back in 2014, all pre-release builds that are released through the program are known as Insider Preview builds.

快照和发布
Maven 中的快照版本是尚未发布的版本.

Snapshot and Release
A snapshot version in Maven is one that has not been released.

这个想法是在 1.0 版本(或任何其他版本)完成之前，存在 1.0-SNAPSHOT.该版本可能成为 1.0.它基本上是正在开发的 1.0".这可能接近于真正的 1.0 版本，或者相当远(例如，紧随 0.9 版本之后).

The idea is that before a 1.0 release (or any other release) is done, there exists a 1.0-SNAPSHOT. That version is what might become 1.0. It's basically "1.0 under development". This might be close to a real 1.0 release, or pretty far (right after the 0.9 release, for example).

真实"之间的区别版本和快照版本是快照可能会得到更新.这意味着今天下载 1.0-SNAPSHOT 可能会得到与昨天或明天下载不同的文件.

The difference between a "real" version and a snapshot version is that snapshots might get updates. That means that downloading 1.0-SNAPSHOT today might give a different file than downloading it yesterday or tomorrow.

通常，快照依赖关系应该只存在于开发过程中，并且任何发布版本(即没有非快照)都不应该依赖快照版本.

Usually, snapshot dependencies should only exist during development and no released version (i.e. no non-snapshot) should have a dependency on a snapshot version.

每晚
每晚构建是自动发生的中性构建.这些通常发生在没有人可能在办公室工作时，因此在构建过程中不会更改源代码.

Nightly
A nightly build is a neutral build that takes place automatically. These typically take place when no one is likely to be working in the office so that there are no changes to the source code during the build.

每晚构建是一件好事，如果开发人员破坏了构建，它们会立即向他们提供反馈.每晚构建意味着该软件是稳定的，并且可能会为新用户构建.不定期构建的软件很难发布.

Nightly builds are a good thing, they provide immediate feedback to developers if they broke the build. Having a nightly build means that the software is stable and is likely to build for new users. Software that is not built regularly is difficult to release.

里程碑
里程碑版本包括特定的功能集，并在功能完成后立即发布.

Milestone
Milestone versions include specific sets of functions and are released as soon as the functionality is complete.

候选版本 [RC]
发布候选.发布候选版 (RC)，也称为走向银牌"，是一个有可能成为最终产品的 beta 版本，除非出现重大错误，否则随时可以发布.

Release Candidate [RC]
Release candidate. A release candidate (RC), also known as "going silver", is a beta version with the potential to be a final product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge.

Release Candidate (RC) 是内部发布的版本，用于检查在之前的开发期间是否有任何关键问题未被检测到代码中.候选版本不用于生产部署，而仅用于测试目的.

Release Candidate (RC) is the build released internally to check if any critical problems have gone undetected into the code during the previous development period. Release candidates are NOT for production deployment, but they are for testing purposes only.