A CHANGES file is hugely overlooked by many projects. I've only recently started using it, but it's a great way to help other developers get a "gist" for what the latest version includes!
Depending on your platform, a DEPS file is pretty useful too; for my Python projects I've got a DEPS file that is just a "pip freeze > DEPS" output. It's then loaded into the setup.py - it serves two purposes, easily recognizable by a developer and also used by the package for its dependencies.
I keep the latest version in a VERSION file that is loaded by setup.py for its version.
I can't say enough for README files that are kept up-to-date and full of GOOD information. It really doesn't take too much time either.
Depending on your platform, a DEPS file is pretty useful too; for my Python projects I've got a DEPS file that is just a "pip freeze > DEPS" output. It's then loaded into the setup.py - it serves two purposes, easily recognizable by a developer and also used by the package for its dependencies.
I keep the latest version in a VERSION file that is loaded by setup.py for its version.
I can't say enough for README files that are kept up-to-date and full of GOOD information. It really doesn't take too much time either.