Software Configuration Management Systems for Distributed Development Teams: Real World Requirements and Evaluation.

Software Configuration Management (SCM), also known as revision control, version control, source control or (source) code management, is the management of changes to software artifacts. An appropriate SCM is essential to successful management and completion of large system development projects. Although the requirements for SCM in traditional development environments have been well-documents, little research has been done on the required attributes of SCM in the context of a (globally) distributed development team. This paper looks at an evaluation framework which can be used to select and evaluate an SCM system in order to determine which one suits the needs of a geographically distributed development team. The framework takes into particular consideration requirements such as the speed at which code can be pulled or updated in the local repository, the ability to push/commit changes ever when the repository is offline, scalability and stability i.e. the repository must remain in a consistent state (not corrupted) even after failed commits. The framework is illustrated in a practical manner by means of three state-of-the-art SCM systems: Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, Subversion and GIT.