Continuous integration is an automatic re-building of project code base that is triggered by new changes to ensure that new changes integrate well into the existing code base. Continuous integration gains popularity among software organizations for its ability to provide quick feedback on quality of new changes. This feedback is used to deliver timely fixes if the changes don’t integrate well and break the project code base.

Workspace management has been an increasingly important component of CM over the years. Gone are the days when the only workspace operations were checkout, checkin, build/make, and the occasional file merge operation. Today, the workspace is at the center of a developer's interaction with the CM tool. Ideally, it is not just a file holder, but rather embodies an entire development context. More and more that context is accessed through a richer CM tool interface, from an IDE environment, or even through the file system. In the modern CM tool, the workspace must actively provide guidance to the developer rather than lying dormant waiting for a developer to manage it.

This article focuses on branching and merging. We present some background for branching and merging, and consider some of the implications for agile development in particular. We also hope to reduce some of the suspicion that many agile developers have of branching. The article assumes some overall branching knowledge and yet revisits some particular details that often seem to confuse people. This is a fertile area which we will continue to expand on in future articles.

Ineffective operating system level security can jeopardize your entire SCM operations and the hundreds of millions of dollars of software assets you are trying to control. It is important to match SCM to your company’s security model and use OS security to exercise control over application runtime environments, which CCM tools typically do not control. Here are some important guidelines for using operating system security to provide robust SCM for Windows and *NIX platforms.