Perforce Git Fusion introduces flexible new ways for developers to collaborate, and gives administrators greater visibility, scalability and security

Key Points:

Enterprise version management leader Perforce Software introduces Perforce Git Fusion, which gives developers using the Git DVCS flexible new capabilities for reusing and sharing code.

With Git Fusion, teams can use Git repositories and their components in new ways, combining them and creating new repositories by selectively reusing elements from other Git or Perforce code lines.

Git Fusion extends Perforce’s enterprise version management capabilities to Git repositories, giving administrators greater scalability, IP security and defensibility, availability, compliance and visibility across all projects and teams.

Perforce and Git Fusion are free for up to 20 users and are now available from www.perforce.com

Wokingham, UK, October 2, 2012 - Perforce Software today announced the availability of Perforce Git Fusion, a new product that improves the experience of using Git, the popular open source Distributed Version Control System (DVCS). With Git Fusion, developers who use Git can continue to use their preferred tools, but now have flexible new capabilities for customization, reuse and sharing of their projects. Git Fusion also extends Perforce’s enterprise version management capabilities to Git repositories, bringing added IP security and defensibility, scalability, compliance and visibility to formerly silo’ed projects.

In Gartner Hype Cycle for Application Development 2012[1] the merits and challenges of distributed version control systems (DVCS) are discussed. “The [DVCS] challenge for managers is to maintain the programmer benefits, while serving the team's and enterprise's needs for quality, visibility, security and consistency.” The report continues, “When scaling the [DVCS] solution, enterprise groups have to deal with issues of security, process management, traceability and accountability.”

Perforce’s enterprise version management solutions foster effective collaboration on a global scale. In Perforce's distributed version management environment, each site can have the full set of data it needs, even if the logical and geographical structures of the project don't line up. And the Perforce environment makes no sacrifices in IP security or compliance.

Improving the Git Experience
Git repositories pose challenges for projects that need to scale. Often companies are made to choose between changing their release processes and codebase to accommodate the limitations of Git or making Git developers adopt bolted-on tools and add unwanted manual steps to their work. Perforce Git Fusion eliminates compromise on either side by removing the bottlenecks that can come from using Git. It fosters greater collaboration and agility for development teams, enables release managers to assemble their projects using proven engineering processes, and ensures administrators have enterprise-class IP security, availability and visibility across all projects and teams.

Git Fusion also introduces powerful new capabilities. With Repository Remapping, developers can create new Git repositories at will with a reconfigured set of data. They can use elements from multiple repositories to push customized new Git repositories together. They can reuse the various elements of a Git repo—the commits, the trees, the file content—in a form that works in both new Git repositories and Perforce repositories. Perforce can then maintain the overall project view of releases, components, and workflow and can manage an unlimited number of Git repositories.

With Git Fusion, developers can code in either Git or Perforce and can switch easily back and forth. From the Git user experience, Perforce can be completely hidden or developers can choose to take advantage of Perforce’s advanced suite of tools. This includes access to myriad integrations with other applications, the ability to remap code on a grand scale, and tools to visualize the evolution of a file as well as branch history.

Now Git Developers Can…

Create highly customized repositories, selecting elements and modules from different repositories

Simplify code sharing/reuse

Easily collaborate with other teams and projects

Access powerful Perforce tools, such as Time Lapse View

Prevent modifications to sensitive files

Now Release Managers Can…

Gain a complete view across projects and teams—including the code exposed through Git

Manage large and complex DVCS projects with ease

Share code across repositories

Extend enterprise-grade IP security and defensibility, scalability and compliance to Git repositories

Christopher Creutzig, software developer at technical computing software leader Mathworks, said, “As a developer, I combine lots of different products to make use of their individual strengths. While I will continue to do a lot of work directly in Perforce, I am really looking forward to a solid integration between Perforce, with its superior handling of large repositories, and Git, with its flexible workflow and the speed of local operations."

Perforce founder and CEO Christopher Seiwald said, “We have always been committed to supporting developers in whatever environment they prefer—it’s part and parcel of our ‘version everything’ vision. With Git Fusion, we’ve not only made it easier for our customers to apply enterprise version management across all their projects, we’ve actually made the Git experience much more useful and productive. Developers who like Git can carry on unhindered, but they can also take advantage of our advanced capabilities when they need to. Git Fusion keeps teams agile and allows them to easily scale up for complex projects, while also letting system administrators rest assured their IP is guarded by the Perforce versioning engine.”

Free for Open Source Projects, Educational Institutions and Up to 20 Users
The complete Perforce Software Version Management system is available at no cost for open source projects and educational institutions. In addition, the Perforce 20/20 Program offers the Perforce suite free for up to 20 users or workspaces, making it easy for any small company or start-up to benefit from enterprise-class software version management. These free programs provide Perforce’s complete and most up-to-date features and products, including Perforce Git Fusion.

[1] Gartner Hype Cycle for Application Development 2012, Ian Finley, Nathan Wilson, Gordon Van Huizen, July 30, 2012.

Availability & Pricing
Perforce Git Fusion is available now at no additional cost with the Perforce Software Version Management system. Git Fusion downloads independently of the Perforce versioning engine and works with Perforce 2011.1 or greater. Interested developers are invited to download and evaluate Perforce from www.perforce.com. This offer includes free technical support during evaluation.

Perforce pricing is all-inclusive. There are no add-on components that require licensing. End-user licenses for the complete solution start at $30 per month. Volume discounts are available. For additional pricing and licensing information, visit www.perforce.com/purchase.