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Perforce

Perforce is a version control system used primarily by large enterprises to manage source code and other assets during product development. It excels at handling large, complex repositories with huge numbers of revisions.

What is Perforce?

Perforce is a proprietary version control system developed by Perforce Software. It is popular among large enterprises, especially game studios, manufacturers, and semiconductor companies, to manage their digital assets and source code.

Some key features of Perforce include:

  • Excellent scaling for extremely large codebases with millions of files and revisions
  • Advanced branching and merging capabilities
  • Integrated review system for code changes
  • Fine-grained permissions to control team access
  • Works well across globally distributed teams and offices

Unlike Git which is decentralized, Perforce uses a centralized client-server architecture. All versioned files and metadata is stored on the server, while developers use the Perforce client to connect and sync files to their local machines. This model facilitates collaboration across large teams.

Overall, Perforce stands out for version control scenarios involving huge repositories with very frequent changes - its performance and ability to scale remains unmatched. The learning curve may be higher than Git, but for specific large-scale use cases Perforce delivers exceptional power and flexibility.

The Best Perforce Alternatives

Top Apps like Perforce

Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, Mercurial SCM, ZenTao, Apache Subversion, Fossil, Plastic SCM, Veracity, Git for Windows, darcs, Rational ClearCase, MKS Source, SpectrumSCM, SourceAnywhere, SnapshotCM, Pijul are some alternatives to Perforce.

Microsoft Visual SourceSafe

Microsoft Visual SourceSafe is a version control application originally created by Microsoft. It allows software development teams to manage changes to source code over time. Key features of Visual SourceSafe include:Version control - Stores multiple versions of code so developers can roll back changes if neededCheck-in/Check-out - Developers...

Mercurial SCM

Mercurial is a free, distributed source control management system designed for efficient and reliable control of source code and other revision-controlled assets. Key features of Mercurial include:Distributed peer-to-peer architecture, allowing decentralized and collaborative developmentRobust branching and merging capabilities to support complex workflowsSecure, encrypted repositories with integrated access controlPowerful integrations...

ZenTao

ZenTao is an open-source, self-hosted Agile/Scrum project management software. It includes features for bug tracking, task management, release planning, continuous integration, project documentation and code review.Key features of ZenTao include:Customizable Scrum and Kanban boards to visualize workflows and track progressProduct, story/feature, sprint and release planning toolsIssue...

Apache Subversion

Apache Subversion (often abbreviated SVN) is a software versioning and revision control system distributed as free and open source software. Software developers use Subversion to maintain current and historical versions of files such as source code, web pages, and documentation. Its goal is to be a mostly compatible successor to...

Fossil

Fossil is an open-source, distributed version control system developed by D. Richard Hipp. It emphasizes simplicity, security, and data integrity over features commonly found in other version control systems.Some key features and capabilities of Fossil include:Distributed architecture - Allows geographically distributed teams to collaborate on a projectIntegrated bug...

Plastic SCM

Plastic SCM is a distributed version control system designed for teams of developers working on Windows, Linux and Mac platforms. Some key features of Plastic SCM include:High performance - Plastic SCM is optimized for large, active projects with thousands of files and frequent commits from multiple simultaneous users. It...

Veracity

Veracity is an open source data trust platform created by DNV for secure data sharing and governance. It establishes trust in data through traceability, provenance, security, and control over valuable data assets.Key features of Veracity include:Data provenance tracking to understand the origins and transformations of dataAccess controls, permissions...

Git for Windows

Git for Windows is a free and open source distributed version control system optimized for use on Windows systems. It provides Windows users with an easy way to install Git on their computers with minimal hassle.Some key features of Git for Windows include:Latest release of Git for seamless...

Darcs

darcs is an advanced distributed revision control system that differs fundamentally from systems like Git and Mercurial in its underlying theory. While darcs shares common functionality with other version control tools like committing and branching/merging changes, it is built on a unique algebra of patches and provides innovative features...

Rational ClearCase

Rational ClearCase is a revision control and software configuration management tool originally developed by Atria Software and acquired by Rational Software, which was later acquired by IBM. ClearCase provides version control for source code and other software development assets.Some key features of ClearCase include:Allows parallel development - multiple...

MKS Source

MKS Source is a comprehensive software configuration management and version control system designed for managing and controlling changes to source code and other artifacts during the software development lifecycle. It provides core SCM capabilities like version control, workspace management, branching and merging, change tracking, release management, and more to enable...

SpectrumSCM

SpectrumSCM is a comprehensive software configuration management platform built to help development teams manage and track changes to source code, documents, multimedia assets, and any other content that is part of the software delivery lifecycle. It brings together version control, issue tracking, code review, release management, and other key capabilities...

SourceAnywhere

SourceAnywhere is a version control and source code management tool developed by Perforce Software. It allows development teams to collaborate on coding projects by tracking file revisions, enabling developers to work on parallel branches, merging code changes into a central repository, maintaining a history of changes, and securely accessing the...

SnapshotCM

SnapshotCM is an open-source infrastructure-as-code tool for managing and provisioning IT systems. It utilizes a declarative model to define the desired state of your infrastructure and continuously reconciles the actual state towards that definition.Some key features of SnapshotCM include:Platform agnostic - works across bare metal, virtual machines, containers...

Pijul

Pijul is an open-source distributed version control system that offers an alternative approach to software like Git. Instead of Git's content-addressable storage model, Pijul is built on a theory of patches and solvers developed specifically for version control.The key difference with Pijul is in its merge capabilities. In systems...