Java Edition version history

Minecraft has been under consistent development from May 10, 2009 up until the present day.

Release
The release stage of Minecraft's development started on November 18, 2011 and has continued until the present day. At this point of development, the game was considered "complete", both having an "ending" and being ready for ratings and reviews. The game's price also increased from what it was in Beta, but users who previously bought the game were not charged extra.

Beta
The Beta development phase started on December 20, 2010 and ended on November 18, 2011. The main goals of this development stage were a larger focus on polishing gameplay, additional content, and stability. The game's price also increased from what it was in Alpha, but users who previously bought the game were not charged extra.

Alpha
The Alpha development phase started on June 29, 2010 and ended on December 20th, 2010. This version also limited the gamemode to survival, but saw a re-release of multiplayer. At this time, Notch began developing the game full time, causing much more frequent updates. These were also the first versions which had to be purchased, though the price increased in later stages.

Infdev
The Infdev development phase started on February 27, 2010 and ended on June 29, 2010. During this stage, Minecraft was only available in single-player survival mode and versions were unnumbered. At this point, Notch rewrote the game code to allow mostly "infinite" terrain.

Indev
The Indev development phase started on December 23, 2009 and ended on February 27, 2010. It was the successor to the previous survival test and continued expanding the survival aspects of the game, making it a lot more like the current gameplay. Versions in this stage were either unnumbered or used the same number.

Classic
Classic is the name given to any development or versions released before Indev. The development phase started on May 16, 2009 and ended on December 23, 2009. The original game mode was creative, but on September 1, 2009 develpment began for survival mode under the name Survival Test.

Pre-classic
Pre-classic was the initial development phase of Minecraft, in which the very basic mechanics and elements of the game were developed, tested and improved over the period of less than a week: from May 10 to May 16, 2009. It was not originally released to the public, but it is now playable via the launcher.