In much the same way that individual OSGi bundles can be versioned, SpringSource Application Platform allows applications to be versioned. This is achieved by using the Application-Version manifest header, in the case of a multi-bundle application packaged as a PAR file, or by using the Bundle-Version manifest header, in the case of a single-bundle application.

SpringSource Application Platform uses an application's version to prevent clashes when multiple versions of the same application are deployed at the same time. For example, the application trace support described in Section 5.6, “Application trace”, includes the application's name and version in the trace file path. This ensures that each version of the same application has its own trace file.