Development cycle

Minecraft has undergone an extensively long public development cycle and has been consistently updated to this day. The first public pre-alpha build was released on 17th of May, 2009. The official release occurred on November 18, 2011, at MineCon. The alpha version of Minecraft - Pocket Edition was made available for Android on 16th of August and iOS on 17th of November, 2011.

Classic
The very first and very basic version of Minecraft, Classic was released to the public on May 17, 2009. Classic was available originally in Creative mode, and later in Survival mode (as played in Survival Test.) During this phase, the gameplay of Minecraft was nearly completely different than it is today. Many features (such as crafting) were not yet implemented, and the basic ideas of blocks and mobs were first created and then perfected. The world map was limited, and consisted of a single 'environment' with little variation in terrain. Despite these limitations, an especially important addition Classic provided was Creative multiplayer, where players could collaborate and build together. This paved the way for the later addition of Survival multiplayer, which appeared in Alpha. Classic Minecraft was abandoned once it reached version 0.30, and Minecraft entered its Indev stage. Players can still play Classic for free on the official Minecraft website, and Notch has stated it will remain for historical purposes.

Indev
Indev (standing for In Development) was the second phase of Minecraft's development and the first one that required players to buy the game in order to play it. Indev was released to replace Classic on December 23, 2009, and introduced many new features, eventually leading to the entire Minecraft source code being scrapped and rewritten from scratch during this phase. Indev was only playable in Survival game mode, and because of this, it was the one that shaped and formed Survival mode, along with the whole Minecraft experience, into what it is today. Introduced were many important game elements such as crafting and a proper inventory, allowing players to create items and tools using natural resources and making Minecraft's gameplay roughly what it is today. The world map was still limited, but could now be played in several different variations, known as world themes. Indev was replaced by Infdev on February 27th, 2010, but remained available on the official Minecraft website until September 2010, when it was removed. It is now no longer possible to play Indev unless you manage to find a .jar file.

Infdev
Infdev (standing for Infinite Development) was released on February 27th, 2010, and became the third phase of Minecraft's development. It featured the important addition of maps that can generate infinitely, which extended the gameplay possibilities even further, but scrapped other features of Indev such as world themes. This in turn spelled the demise of features such as 'floating islands' and 'permaday'. These removals are understandable, as Infdev's main purpose was to develop infinite maps. However, some extra gameplay features and items were added, such as the addition of minecarts and the ability to respawn. After being replaced by Alpha on June 28th, 2010, Infdev remained available on the official Minecraft website until September 2010, when it was removed, making it impossible to play except if you can get a .jar file.

Alpha
Alpha was the fourth phase of Minecraft's development, and replaced Infdev on June 28th, 2010. It introduced several new items and features such as redstone wiring and another dimension called the Nether. One could see Alpha's introduction of biomes as being the return, at least in part, of Indev's world themes, and indeed the Nether is not unlike the 'Hell' world theme. Another reintroduction in Alpha was the return of multiplayer. Unlike Classic's Creative multiplayer, Alpha's multiplayer was only available in Survival form (logically called Survival multiplayer.) Alpha ended on December 20th, 2010, and Minecraft entered its Beta stage. It is possible to get Minecraft Alpha using the external tools such as MC Downgrader or MC Nostalgia. You can also use .jar files.

Beta
Beta was the fifth and last phase of Minecraft's development before its official release. At this time, the game saw a 50% price increase, as well as features such as achievements and statistics. Weather was added, a new Minecraft logo, a new launcher, more items and more mobs were introduced. Beta also included the Adventure Update, which added a large amount of content into the game including new combat mechanics, hunger, and naturally generated structures. Beta ended on November 18th, 2011, and Minecraft was officially released as Minecraft 1.0.

Minecraft
The official release of Minecraft, Minecraft 1.0, was released on November 18, 2011, at MineCon 2011. It included many new features; some of the more notable ones being the addition of The End and the boss mob Ender Dragon, which, after defeated, would result in the player winning the game. Various new mobs were added to both the Overworld and the Nether, such as the Blaze and Mooshroom. Version 1.0 also saw the reintroduction of an Indev feature: choosing the type of world generation. Only default, large biomes, and superflat are available world types as of now.

Table of features
Below is a short summary of what features each new milestone introduces.

Pocket Edition
In August 16, 2011, Mojang released Pocket Edition. It is the first official mobile Minecraft. Minecraft - Pocket Edition is currently in Alpha.

Blocks
List of the 36 blocks in the Pocket Edition: Unavailable (These blocks are in the game generator, but not in the inventory management screen.)
 * Ladders
 * Flowers
 * Cyan and Dandelion
 * Mushrooms
 * Both Red and Brown
 * Sugar Cane
 * Doors
 * Dirt and Grass
 * Wool
 * Gray, Pink, Lime, Yellow, Light Blue, Blue, Purple, Cyan, White, Red, Green, and Brown
 * Wooden and Cobblestone stairs
 * Stone Slabs
 * Sand and Sandstone
 * Leaves
 * Glass
 * Stone
 * Cobblestone
 * Wooden Planks
 * Default wood color
 * Gold, Iron, and Diamond blocks
 * Brick block
 * Pine and Birch Wood
 * Ores
 * Gravel
 * Bedrock
 * Camera
 * There is also redstone buried deep in the ground.

Features

 * Ability to invite and play multi-player on a world. (Local wireless network.)
 * Save multi-player worlds on a phone.
 * Randomized worlds.
 * Placing and removing blocks.