Release types

Date adopted: 
August 27, 2020
Last update: 
August 28, 2020

Alpha release

In an alpha release the component or site may not contain all the planned features. It likely contains known and unknown defects.

With the exception of release notes, there are no formal expectations to review work product in an alpha release.

This type of release can be used to validate the merge request process and ensure core functionality is not compromised once work has been deployed to the eServices Platform environment.

Beta release

Beta releases follow alpha releases. In this release the component is feature complete but likely to contain some known or unknown defects.

We expect a more formal review of your work product in the initial beta release. Development partners should:

  • provide release notes;
  • participate in a joint code review session. During code review the development partner can walk through custom features to discuss approach and highlight any technical issues. Code reviews are around 30 minutes long;
  • demonstrate relevant testing practices and or steps taken to provide assurances for code quality and test coverage. This may include reporting of:
    • unit tests;
    • functional tests;
    • compliance with WCAG 2.0 (AA) guidelines;
    • compliance with Government of Yukon security and privacy guidelines; and
    • demonstrated compatibility across the following approved desktop browsers and devices.
      • Desktop browsers for: Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE 8+.
      • Devices running the latest versions of Apple iOS and Android.
      • Visual inspections of the site in popular mobile viewport sizes.
  • confirm that custom components can be translated within Drupal;
  • demonstrate that you've set up and configured external services. For example, Beanstream.

Release candidate (RC)

A development release candidate follows a development beta release. A release candidate is code complete when the development partner agrees no new source code will be added to this release.

For a release candidate, development partners must:

  • provide release notes;
  • demonstrate issues during beta testing have been resolved; and
  • have approval from you project sponsor to promote the release candidate to the UAT environment.