DEVELOPING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+# Developing Bombadillo
+
+## Getting Started
+
+Following the standard install instructions should lead you to have nearly everything you need to commence development. The only additions to this are:
+
+- To be able to submit pull requests, you will need to fork this repository first.
+- The build process must be tested with Go 1.11 to ensure backward compatibility. This version can be installed as per the [Go install documentation](https://golang.org/doc/install#extra_versions). Check that changes build with this version using `make test`.
+- Linting must be performed on new changes using `gofmt` and [golangci-lint](https://github.com/golangci/golangci-lint)
+
+
+## How changes are made
+
+A stable version of Bombadillo is kept in the default branch, so that people can easily clone the repo and get a good version of the software.
+
+New changes are introduced to the **develop** branch.
+
+Changes to the default branch occur as part of the software release process. This usually occurs when:
+
+ - there are a set of changes in **develop** that are good enough to be considered stable.
+ - an urgent issue is identified in the stable version that requires immediate changes
+
+
+### Process for introducing a new change
+
+Please refer to our [notes on contributing](README.md#contributing) to get an understanding of how new changes are initiated, the type of changes accepted and the review process.
+
+1. Create a new feature branch based on the **develop** branch.
+1. Raise a pull request (PR) targeting the **develop** branch.
+1. The PR is reviewed.
+1. If the PR is approved, it is merged.
+1. The version patch number is incremented.
+
+
+### Incrementing the version number
+
+Version numbers are comprised of three digits: major version number, minor version number, and patch number.
+
+Each new change added to **develop** should increment the patch number. For example, version 2.0.1 would become 2.0.2. After the change is merged from the feature branch to **develop**:
+
+```shell
+# ensure everything is up to date and in the right place
+git checkout develop
+git pull
+
+# get the commit ID for the recent merge
+git log
+
+# get the current version number
+git tag
+
+# add the incremented version number to the commit-id, for example:
+git tag 2.0.2 abcdef 
+```
+
+As part of the software release process, any part of the version number may change:
+- Urgent changes increment the **patch** number
+- A set of small changes increments the **minor** version number
+- A significant change to large parts of the application increments the **major** version number
+
+The process is very similar to the above commands, however the final command should include an annotation:
+
+```shell
+git tag 2.1.0 abdef -a "This version adds several new features..."
+```
+
+Release information should also be added to the [tildegit releases page](https://tildegit.org/sloum/bombadillo/releases).

README.md

@@ -127,11 +127,7 @@ The maintainers use the [tildegit](https://tildegit.org) issues system to discus
 
 ## Development
 
-Following the standard install instructions should lead you to have nearly everything you need to commence development. The only additions to this are:
-
-- To be able to submit pull requests, you will need to fork this repository first.
-- The build process must be tested with Go 1.11 to ensure backward compatibility. This version can be installed as per the [Go install documentation](https://golang.org/doc/install#extra_versions). Check that changes build with this version using `make test`.
-- Linting must be performed on new changes using `gofmt` and [golangci-lint](https://github.com/golangci/golangci-lint)
+See [DEVELOPING.md](DEVELOPING.md) for information on how changes to Bombadillo are made, along with other technical information for developers.
 
 ## License