VERSION MODELS FOR SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

After more than 20 years of research and practice in software configur ation management (SCM), constructing consistent configurations of vers ioned software products still remains a challenge. This article focuse s on the version models underlying both commercial systems and researc h prototypes. It provides an overview and classification of different versioning paradigms and defines and relates fundamental concepts such as revisions, variants, configurations, and changes. In particular, w e focus on intensional versioning, that is, construction of versions b ased on configuration rules. Finally, we provide an overview of system s that have had significant impact on the development of the SCM disci pline and classify them according to a detailed taxonomy.