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Comment by bangonkeyboard | Hacker News Reader

Something I've wondered when writing my own changelogs: What determines whether an issue is categorized as "fixed," "addressed," or "resolved"?

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> What determines whether an issue is categorized as "fixed," "addressed," or "resolved"?

I mostly use them interchangeably and just pick whichever one feels better in that particular sentence at that particular part of the changelog.

The only real exception is when I've fixed one specific expression of a problem but I think there are probably still edge cases where it might pop up again. I deliberately mark those as "addressed" for my own sanity.

You use “addressed” when you’re not entirely sure that it’s completely fixed. You use “resolved” when you removed the feature instead of fixing it. ;)

Very similar but subtly different in my mind.

- Fixed: something was broken, and it has been repaired. - Addressed: there was an issue, and we've responded to it maybe with a workaround, improving docs, maybe by saying we won't fix it/it wasn't broken. - Resolved: something wasn't working, and now it works. Maybe there were fixes, and maybe there were workarounds. But it works now.

I'm pretty sure all of them mean the exact same thing, they just alternate for the notes to be less repetitive.

It's why I prefer to use a standard like https://keepachangelog.com

These days I gravitate towards “improved” or “enhanced” handling or support for something to avoid unbounded certainty about the issue.

I only ever write it as defect / feature prefixed.

I never write the resolution as I am fallible!

In recent years the terminology on Apple update notes is very inconsistent so I wouldn't read much into it except that nobody is paying much attention to it.

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