se·man·tic
səˈmantik/
adjective
1. relating to meaning.

ver·sion·ing
ˈvərZHəniNG/
noun
1. the process of assigning unique version numbers to computer software.

Semantic Versioning is a standard by which to make version numbers convey information about software. In particular, compatibility with previous versions.

Why should you care?

Drupal 8 is adopting semantic versioning. The first release will be 8.0.0. Do you know what the difference will be between 8.0.1 and 8.1.0?

Other things you should probably know

* Why is Drupal adopting semantic versioning?
* How does this help me as a site builder?
* How will this affect the contrib modules I maintain?