In the past I've used YYYYMMDDXX as a version number. In my experience there's no real problem with confusion about what the version number means as long as it'

In the past I've used YYYYMMDDXX as a version number. In my experience there's no real problem with confusion about what the version number means as long as it's automatically generated so there's a clear definition. For me it was "feature merges to master, and master has passed tests". Nothing about actual releases at all, because the version of the code says nothing about what you do with it.