Both build and release are the end products of software development process. The relationship of the build and release is shown in the below diagram.
However the Build and Release differ from each other in following aspects:
- A Build is a version of a software given by a development team to the testing or QA team for performing testing. A Release is a formal release from the testing team to the customers.
- The occurrence of Build is more frequent as compared to Release.
- A Build is still in testing whereas Release no longer requires testing.
- Build is a process of converting source code to an executable whereas Release is a process of delivering a project to customer.
- A Build is a small functionality whereas a Release can have several builds associated with it.
- Build is part of an application whereas Release is nothing but an application.
