Version Control System

The Version Control System (VCS), keeps track of all work and all changes in a set of files, typically the implementation of a software project, and allows several (potentially widely separated) developers to collaborate.

Features
VCS uses client-server architecture: a server stores the current version(s) of the project and its history, and clients connect to the server in order to check-out a complete copy of the project, work on this copy and then later check-in their changes. Typically, client and server connect over a LAN or over the Internet, but client and server may both run on the same machine if VCS has the task of keeping track of the version history of a project with only local developers.

Several developers may work on the same project concurrently, each one editing files within his own working copy of the project, and sending (or checking in) his modifications to the server. To avoid the possibility of people stepping on each other's toes, the server will only accept changes made to the most recent version of a file. Developers are therefore expected to keep their working copy up-to-date by incorporating other people's changes on a regular basis. This task is mostly handled automatically by the VCS client, requiring manual intervention only when a conflict arises between a checked-in modification and the yet-unchecked local version of a file.

Clients can also compare different versions of files, request a complete history of changes, or check-out a historical snapshot of the project as of a given date or as of a revision number.

Clients can also use the "update" command in order to bring their local copies up-to-date with the newest version on the server. This eliminates the need for repeated downloading of the whole project.

VCS can also maintain different "branches" of a project. For instance, a released version of the software project may form one branch, used for bug fixes, while a version under current development, with major changes and new features, forms a separate branch.

Implementation Strategy

The VCS Server and Clients can be developed uing JAVA.