RCS -- A System for Version Control

  • Name:

    Journal Article

  • Author:

    Walter F. Tichy

  • Summary

    An important problem in program development and maintenance is control, i.e. the task of keeping a software system consisting of many versions and configurations well organized. The Revision Control System (RCS) is a software tool that assists with that task. RCS manages revisions of text documents, in particular source programs, documentation, and test data. It automates the storing, retrieval, logging and identification of revisions, and it provides selection mechanisms for composing configurations. This paper introduces basic version control concepts and discusses the practice of version control using RCS. For conserving space, RCS stores deltas, i.e. differences between successive revisions. Several delta storage methods are discussed. Usage statistics show that RCS’s delta method is space and time efficient. The paper concludes with a detailed survey of version control tools.

    Bibtex

    @article{tichy85rcs,
    author={Walter F. Tichy},
    title={RCS -- A System for Version Control},
    year=1985,
    month=July,
    publisher={Wiley},
    volume={15},
    doi={10.1002/spe.4380150703},
    number={7},
    pages={637--654},
    journal={Software: Practice and Experience},
    }
  • Publisher:

    Wiley 

  • Year:

    1985

People involved
Title First Name Surname
Prof. em. Dr. Walter F. Tichy