Top 10 Revision Control Software

Often its hard to control when you have multiple versions of the same document to choose. You might be confused over the fact whether you are using the an updated version or if there is any revision you have missed out to include. These problems can be over come by synchronizing and validating the revision control (aka version control or source control) for various process. Revision control is an aspect of documentation control in which the changes in a document are identified by increasing an associated number or letter code, called revision level, or simply revision.  It is a practice that helps to track and acquire control over changes in a project’s source code. The revision control software is used by the developers to manage documentation and configuration files including the source code. Revision control can be employed on various types of information record.  Let’s take an example, if an initial set of files is revision 1, after the first change is made, the resulting set is revision 2 and so on. The revisions are associated with a timestamp and the person making the change. We have sorted out a list of top 10 revision control software, let’s take a look.

1. Preforce

It is powerful revision control software aimed at commercial usage. Preforce is a client/server system with centralized, access-controlled repository that supports distributed revision control. The system encloses comprehensive features that include three-way text file merging; common ancestor detection; merge tracking and re-merge prevention and more. It runs on multi-platform, cross-platform - single Unix or Windows server and supports clients on any OS.

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2. Bazaar

It is a distributed revision control system written in Python. It has been designed to make it easier for the developers to enhance the free and open source projects. The revision control software can be used by a single user controlling multiple branches of local content or in collaboration with a team across the network. A new project can be initialized and maintained without any remote repository server by invoking the bzr init command in a directory according to the version the user wishes.  Bazaar runs with all major distributions - Linux, Mac OS X and MS Windows.

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3. Monotone

This is a free open source software for distributed version control. Monotone offers a single transactional version store with disconnected operation and an efficient peer-to-peer synchronization protocol. The system features history-sensitive merging, integrated code review, lightweight branches and third party testing. It provides high level of security with cryptographic version naming and client-side RSA certificates. Monotone runs on Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X, Windows, and other Unix systems.
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4. Codeville

This is an open source revision control computer program including an innovative concept of merging algorithm called the Codeville merge. Codeville has been written in Python and runs on all major platforms. This software is capable of handling small personal projects to larger distributed ones.

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5.  Aegis

It’s a software change management system that supports test-driven development(TDD) workflow including any number of different underlying revision control systems. Aegis offers a framework under which a team of developers may work on several changes to a program independently. These changes are coordinated by Aegis and integrated into the master source of the program with minimal disruption.

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6. LibreSource

It’s an collaborative development platform developed on Java/J2EE. It is designed for open source software, groupware, community interaction, and web publishing. LibreSource is a modular web server which the user can customize online by sharing and communicating within a project team.

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7. Mercurial

It’s a cross-platform distributed revision control software written in Python. It is a command line program and its operations are invoked as keyword options to its driver program. The key features of the software include distributed collaborative development,   advanced branching and merging capabilities as well as prolific handling of both plain text and binary files. Mercurial also includes a web interface.

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8. Distributed Concurrent Versions System(DCVS)

It is an comprehensive versions control system that allows locally working developers to collaborate with the software project efficiently. The system provides minimal offline support. In CVS all the version control operations require direct access to the repository. DCVS solves this by distributing the central CVS repository on many sites. DCVS allows unique association of development lines that helps to avoid collisions and thus data loss.

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9. Darcs

Darcs name stands for Darcs Advanced Revision Control System. It’s a distributed revision control system written in a functional programming language Haskell and designed to replace CVS. Darcs offers a copy of a repository to the user and allows them to make changes, pull changes from other repositories, record the changes and ultimately push or send changes to other repositories.

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10. SVK

It is a decentralized version control system written built on subversion file system. The system supports disconnected operation, history-sensitive merging and repository mirroring. SVK also integrates other version control systems and some popular visual merging tools.

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