Chapter 10: Survey of SCM Tools

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Overview

An apprentice carpenter may want only a hammer and saw, but a master craftsman employs many precision tools. Computer programming likewise requires sophisticated tools to cope with the complexity of real applications, and only practice with these tools will build skill in their use. —Robert L. Kruse, Data Structures and Program Design

SCM is today a well-established software engineering discipline, and probably more than 100 SCM tools are currently available. These cover a wide range of functions, differing in functionality, complexity, and price. Although SCM was first developed in the 1970s, it was not until the late 1990s that there was an explosion of SCM tool availability.

The question of which tool is the best is irrelevant. There is no best tool, but there is the most appropriate tool, depending on the business objectives of the users. Many simple tools contain basic functions such as version management and CM, sufficient enough for small development teams. Advanced tools supporting distributed development, change management, and sophisticated building are used in large enterprises. In any case, a single SCM tool without continuous process support is not sufficient for its successful utilization. Even the most sophisticated tools must be integrated into the process with other tools. Also, administration resources must be available. It is naive to believe that more sophisticated tools will require fewer resources for SCM activities. However, the overall results in productivity and product quality can be significantly improved.

This chapter gives a short survey of the SCM tools available on the market. Because of the large number, descriptions of all of them cannot be given here. Some of the most frequently used are described very briefly, to give the reader an idea of the main characteristics of such tools. A list of most used SCM tools based on [1–3] is also presented. The tools are separated into two categories, commercial and free tools. More information about SCM tools can be found on the Internet; the most interesting resources are listed in the next section.



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Implementing and Integraing Product Data Management and Software Configuration[... ]ement
Implementing and Integrating Product Data Management and Software Configuration Management (Artech House Computing Library)
ISBN: 1580534988
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 122

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