Perforce Streams deliver built-in branch and merge strategy and flexible process to speed agile development

Wokingham, UK September 8, 2011 - Perforce Software’s newest version management system features a unique codeline management workflow tool called Perforce Streams. Perforce Streams offer a best practice branch-and-merge strategy to guide development in today’s increasingly complex and highly iterative environment.
Perforce Software Adds Codeline Development Workflow to its Version Management System
Perforce Software Adds Codeline Development Workflow to its Version Management System

Perforce Streams intelligently organise project modules (such as software libraries) and the policies that govern their workflow. A Perforce database object, a Stream, contains metadata about a branch - its location in the depot, its parent branch, its stability (such as release or development) and more. This contextual information makes branching behaviour more intuitive and visual, ensuring that change flows in the right direction, in the right order.

“We may not have invented streams, but our unique approach with Perforce Streams takes them to a new level,” said Randy DeFauw, Technical Marketing Manager for Perforce Software. “Our model implements best practices for codeline management that we’ve championed for over a decade. With the addition of Streams, developers gain tools to implement fast Agile development while guaranteeing the high performance and unlimited scalability our customers expect.”

Benefits of Perforce Streams include:

Fast Context Switching and In-Place Branching
Users can quickly switch from one branch to another in a single workspace. Only the files that differ between the two branches are updated, making the process very efficient. In addition, a stream can easily be moved to a new parent, providing additional flexibility for rapid development workflows.

Flexible Workflow: Define Stream Composition and Dependencies
The Stream ‘view’ captures and defines the composition of a Stream, including:
- the level of sharing between Streams;
- the modules that are being actively developed;
- the modules that are available from a parent stream for read-only use; and,
- which dependencies are imported from other parts of the repository.

Inheritance: Easy Management of Streams and Workspaces
Once a product architect has defined the Stream view, that information is inherited by child Streams and by the users working in the Stream. Workspaces are created and updated automatically based on the Stream view. New child streams are created with a minimum of configuration.

Powerful Visualization Tools
The information in the Stream model is used to build powerful visualisation tools such as the Stream Graph. The Stream Graph provides a quick overview of the Stream model, visual cues for pending merges, and easy access to branching tools. Simple drag & drop operations make switching between Streams, for example from development of a new feature to maintenance in a released product fast and easy to use.

Customers can choose to work using either the Streams framework, taking advantage of the built-in models and tools, or they can continue to work with classic Perforce branching as they always have.

Availability & Pricing
Perforce Streams are available now in the beta releases of the 2011.1 Perforce Server, and P4 and P4V clients. To download the beta version visit, http://www.perforce.com/downloads/beta-release. Interested developers are invited to download and evaluate Perforce free from the Perforce website. 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, including one year of support and maintenance, start at $900 per seat; volume discounts are available. For additional price and license information, visit perforce.com/purchase.

About Perforce Software
Founded in 1995, Perforce Software develops the Perforce Version Management System, an award-winning tool that versions and manages source code and digital assets for enterprises large and small. Perforce Software is headquartered in Alameda, Calif., and sells worldwide. The company has international operations in Europe, Canada and Australia. In addition to application software companies, Perforce customers represent a broad range of industries including game development, electronics, healthcare and financial services