Source Code Control System

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Source Code Control System (SCCS) was the first source code revision control system. It was originally developed at Bell Labs in 1972 by Marc J. Rochkind for an IBM System/370 computer running OS/MVT. It was later ported to a PDP-11 running UNIX. Subsequently, SCCS was included in several UNIX distributions. The SCCS command set is now part of the Single UNIX Specification.

SCCS was the dominant version control system until the release of the Revision Control System. Today, SCCS is generally considered obsolete. However, its file format is still used internally by a few other revision control programs, including BitKeeper and TeamWare. Sablime[1] also allows the use of SCCS files. The SCCS file format uses a storage technique called interleaved deltas (or the weave). This storage technique is now considered by many revision control system developers as key to some advanced merging techniques, such as the "Precise Codeville" ("pcdv") merge.

[edit] Early UNIX Systems that included SCCS

• Programmer's Workbench UNIX
• UNIX System III
• UNIX System V

[edit] References

• M. J. Rochkind: The Source Code Control System. In IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering SE-1:4 (Dec. 1975), pages 364–370.
• Greg Hudson: Notes on keeping version histories of files. Unpublished personal notes.
• Cyclic SCCS Page

[edit] External links

• M. J. Rochkind: I Hear Voices Talking About Me. In Marc's Blog (June 2005)
• GNU CSSC ("Compatibly Stupid Source Control"), an SCCS compatible program called to help convert SCCS archives to modern systems like CVS or Subversion; it is not recommended for use in new projects.
• SCCS projects in SourceForge
• Berlios Hosted Version