[Coding] Why Change Logs are important

[Pri]

This isn't really a proper guide, but its an important tip for programmers.

Change Logs are basically a written/typed log maintained by you or whoever is coding the application your writing with you. A change log is very important for a few reasons:

1. It allows you to view the things you've edited, fixed or added already to your program so you don't repeat work

2. It allows you to easily port fixes in current versions of your programs to a future version of your program that may be in development at the same time.

3. It keeps any other programmers that are working with you up-to date about the last few interactions you had with your shared code-base

4. It keeps your community up to date with the progress of your applications (It shows that your work isn't stagnating).

5. It allows users of your programs to see what bugs they may have experienced have been fixed, what features have been improved (hopefully improved!) and what new features they should seek out (Although you should try to make new features easily identifiable anyway)

I see a lot of programmers who do not keep Change Logs because they don't feel they are worth the time or they just don't see them as being a benefit to them, but really Change Logs can really help you out. A well maintained change log will save you time and effort in the long run and they don't take long to keep updated as you progress.

So not exactly a guide but a worthwhile tip. I hope you will find it a useful one!