Independent verification of software changes

A release description does not always make it possible to establish unambiguously what actually changed between successive software versions. A standard file comparison can also show differences that result only from the versioning scheme.

I developed a mechanism for independent change analysis, based on three principles:

• Identifying corresponding artefacts regardless of changes to their names and numbering.
• Distinguishing substantive changes from technical differences caused by versioning.
• Preserving the chronology and the ability to compare any releases covered by the analysis.

I designed and deployed a mechanism that implements this methodology.

The solution makes it possible to reconstruct the change history, compare the contents of successive releases and independently verify their actual scope.

Value: decisions can be based on verified changes rather than on release descriptions alone.