Merge pull request #866 from goelakash/joss-contributing

docs: Add semantic versioning guidelines to CONTRIBUTING.md

Author: veronikarichter

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -1,7 +1,55 @@
-# How to contribute
+# How to Contribute?
 
 Hello and thanks for wanting to contribute to the development of bim2sim. By this you can help to improve the quality of buildings in the future!
 
 To get an idea how bim2sim works and how you can contribute please have a look at the  [documentation](https://ebc.pages.git-ce.rwth-aachen.de/projects/EBC0438_BMWi_BIM2SIM_GES/bim2sim-coding/development/docs/index.html).
 
 If you are missing any relevant information, please don't hesitate to open an Issue!
+
+## Version Control Guidelines
+
+### Versioning Rules
+
+When pushing changes to development, always update the version number in `pyproject.toml` according to the following semantic versioning guidelines:
+
+#### Current Status
+- Project is in alpha phase
+- Version format: `0.x.x`
+- Transition to `1.0.0` will mark exit from alpha phase
+
+#### Version Number Components
+
+1. **Major Version** (`0.x.x`)
+   - Reserved for breaking changes
+   - Currently locked at `0` during alpha phase
+   - Increment to `1` will indicate production-ready release
+
+2. **Minor Version** (`x.1.x`)
+   - Increment for new features or significant changes
+   - Examples:
+     - Adding new plugins
+     - Major architectural changes (e.g., replacing cached properties with attribute system)
+     - Functionality enhancements
+
+3. **Patch Version** (`x.x.1`)
+   - Increment for bug fixes and minor improvements
+   - No significant feature changes
+
+### Implementation
+
+1. Create your feature branch
+2. Update version in `pyproject.toml`
+3. Commit changes
+4. Create PR to development
+
+### Example
+```toml
+# Before:
+version = "0.1.0"
+# After adding new plugin:
+version = "0.2.0"
+# After bug fix:
+version = "0.2.1"
+```
+
+> **Note:** Always commit version changes along with your code changes in the same branch.