Competitive Analysis of Perforce
The following documents compare and contrast the most significant differences between Perforce and IBM Rational ClearCase, Subversion, Git, and Visual SourceSafe. Instead of comparing each available feature, they focus on significant qualitative aspects such as administration, atomic transactions, and usability.
Perforce 2008.1 and ClearCase 7.002 with new Appendix - What's Changed in Perforce 2011 and IBM Rational ClearCase 8.0. Read this document to:
- See what has been updated in Perforce for 2011
- Understand Perforce and ClearCase's major feature differences
- See head-to-head metrics for operations like branching, merging, check-ins, and checkouts
- Get a general comparison of the effects of scaling on both systems
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| Attribute | IBM Rational ClearCase | Perforce |
| Speed | ClearCase is hampered by a proprietary file system and an architecture built for a LAN environment. | Perforce is fast, and outperforms ClearCase by an order of magnitude for common operations. |
| Remote/Distributed Development | ClearCase uses MultiSite for remote sites, which is difficult to use and does not perform well. ClearCase is not flexible enough to support distributed workflows. | Perforce provides simple tools to support distributed development, ranging from P4Sandbox for individuals to proxies and replicas for automated processes. |
| Developer Productivity | ClearCase requires considerable expertise to support modern development, has no support for distributed workflows, and integrates best with other Rational tools. | Perforce is simpler to use, supports distributed workflows, and integrates well with other ALM tools. |
Compares Perforce (version 2011.1) and Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Team Foundation Server. Read this document to:
- Understand Perforce and TFS’s major feature differences
- See head-to-head metrics for operations like branching, merging, check-ins, and checkouts
- Get a general comparison of the effects of scaling on both systems
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| Attribute | TFS | Perforce |
| Powerful and Innovative Versioning | TFS's merge engine does not support advanced branching, resulting in a loss of productivity. TFS does not offer streams or distributed support. | Perforce offers the branching tools to support Agile development: private local branching, streams, and unique visual tools, backed by a powerful merge engine. |
| Simple and Scalable | TFS architecture requires expertise in several technologies: SharePoint, SQL Server, IIS, and load balancing and related network tools. | Perforce offers powerful tools for teams of any size working around the world, with simple backup and deployment procedures. |
| Flexibility | TFS supplies canned workflow templates and is a one-size-fits-all ALM package. | Perforce supports any workflow, with intuitive guidance for concurrent development. Perforce integrates with best-of-breed ALM tools. |
Compares Perforce (version 2011.1) and Subversion (version 1.7). Read this document to:
- Understand Perforce and Subversions’s major feature differences
- See head-to-head metrics for operations like branching, merging, check-ins, and checkouts
- Get a general comparison of the effects of scaling on both systems
- Read a detailed branching and merging analysis between Perforce and Subversion
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| Attribute | SVN | Perforce |
| Powerful and Innovative Versioning | Subversion’s merge engine does not support advanced branching, resulting in a loss of productivity. Subversion does not offer streams or distributed support. | Perforce offers the branching tools to support Agile development: private local branching, streams, and unique visual tools, backed by a powerful merge engine. |
| Speed | Subversion cannot scale globally without expensive add-ons. Subversion slows down even for simple operations like launching a revision graph, and cannot support automated processes like CI. | Perforce handily outperforms Subversion in common SCM operations. Perforce’s federated architecture is proven to support terabytes of data of any type, distributed around the world. |
| Availability and Support | Enterprise HA/DR, auditing, and access control strategies require purchasing commercial add-ons. Support and services offered by third parties. | Proven backup and HA/DR strategies backed by excellent support and professional services. Administrative support for enterprise access control and auditing. |
Compares Perforce (version 2011.1) and IBM Rational Team Concert (version 3.0.1). Read this document to:
- Understand Perforce and RTC's major feature differences
- Consider the benefits of integrating Perforce with RTC for a flexible ALM solution
- Get a general comparison of the effects of scaling on both systems
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| Attribute | RTC | Perforce |
| Branching Flexibility | RTC enforces a particular workflow and does not offer distributed support. | Perforce supports any workflow without heavy process constraints. Private local branching and task branching are available to support distributed workflows. |
| Simple and Scalable | RTC requires a lot of resources even for small teams, and is not proven to scale for the largest teams. | Perforce has a simpler architecture and can support teams of any size, from individuals to large teams with heavy use of automated builds. |
| Open and Extensible | RTC supplies canned workflow templates and is a one-size-fits-all ALM package. | Perforce supports any workflow, with intuitive guidance for concurrent development. Perforce integrates with best-of-breed ALM tools. |
Git is the leading distributed version control system (DVCS) and in many ways is a complementary technology to Perforce. Read this analysis to see how distributed features can complement a Perforce installation. This document compares Perforce (version 2012.1) and Git version 1.7.3. Read this comparison to:
- Understand Perforce and DVCS’s major feature differences
- See how Perforce and Git compare on qualitative aspects such as usability and administration
- Get a general comparison of the effects of scaling on both systems
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| Attribute | Git | Perforce |
| Ready for the Enterprise | Git is designed to be a productive tool for individuals working on small projects (or small chunks of a big project). | Perforce has solved key problems for the team, like release management and collaboration, security, and scalability. |
| Ready for the Individual | Git provides ‘always-on’ versioning, private local branching, and a fast workflow, along with other useful features. | P4Sandbox provides ‘always-on’ versioning, private local branching, and a fast workflow. |
| Choice of Solutions | Git, used alone, requires add-ons to emulate Perforce solutions. | Perforce provides enterprise version management for the team and the individual, with P4Sandbox and Git offering complementary distributed features. |
Compares Perforce (version 2009.1) and CVS (CVSNT version 2.5.04.3510), focusing on the differences in performance, atomic transactions, and distributed development.
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| Attribute | CVS | Perforce |
| Powerful and Innovative Versioning | CVS offers only rudimentary branching and does not support modern workflows. | Perforce offers the branching tools to support Agile development: private local branching, streams, and unique visual tools, backed by a powerful merge engine. |
| Speed | CVS cannot scale globally, slows down even for simple operations, and cannot support automated processes like CI. | Perforce handily outperforms CVS in common SCM operations. Perforce’s federated architecture is proven to support terabytes of data of any type, distributed around the world. |
| Availability and Support | Enterprise HA/DR, auditing, and access control strategies require purchasing commercial add-ons. Support and services offered by third parties. | Proven backup and HA/DR strategies backed by excellent support and professional services. Administrative support for enterprise access control and auditing. |
Compares Perforce (version 2008.1) and Microsoft Visual SourceSafe 2005, focusing on qualitative aspects such as system architecture, performance, and usability.
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| Attribute | VSS | Perforce |
| Powerful and Innovative Versioning | VSS offers only rudimentary branching and does not support modern workflows. | Perforce offers the branching tools to support Agile development: private local branching, streams, and unique visual tools, backed by a powerful merge engine. |
| Speed | VSS cannot scale globally, requires the use of slow network shares, and cannot support automated processes like CI. | Perforce handily outperforms VSS in common SCM operations. Perforce’s federated architecture is proven to support terabytes of data of any type, distributed around the world. |
| Availability and Support | Repositories are limited in size and prone to corruption. Windows only. | Proven backup and HA/DR strategies backed by excellent support and professional services. Usable on almost any platform. |
