Version Models for Software Con guration Management

After more than 20 years of research and practice in software con guration management (SCM), constructing consistent con gurations of versioned software products still remains a challenge. This paper focuses on the version models underlying both commercial systems and research prototypes. It provides an overview and classi cation of di erent versioning paradigms. Furthermore, it de nes and relates fundamental concepts such as revisions, variants, con gurations, and changes. In particular, we focus on intensional versioning, i.e., construction of versions based on con guration rules. Finally, we provide an overview of systems which have had signi cant impact on the development of the SCM discipline, and classify them according to a detailed taxonomy.