MCSD Product Lifecycle

As with any projects involving software or databases, the products of our division often evolve through different stages of development and maintenance. Depending on the progress of the work and available resources, a project may be in a state of active development, or be finished or even obsolete, and any state in between.

We define the following four stages in the product lifecycle to assist you in assessing the stability and maintenance level of various software and database resources to be found on our site. Each project should include an status indicator using one of these keywords.

Active development

The software/database is under active development at NIST. Preliminary versions may be publicly distributed. Feedback on performance and usability are encouraged. Future versions of the software may be incompatible.

Active maintenance

The software/database is no longer under active development, although routine enhancements and updates may still be issued. Feedback regarding potential errors is encouraged, and all non-trivial errors will be repaired.

Minimal maintenance

The software/database is nearly static. Reported errors will be repaired only if they are very serious.

Not maintained

The software/database is offered as is. No maintenance will be performed.