1.4 Parallel Development

The combination of config spec rules, views, VOBs, and branches (described in Chapter 5, Working On a Team) provide the basis for parallel development, a strategy in which an organization can work on multiple versions of the same source file concurrently. For example, you're working on release 1.4 of a software product, and you want to experiment with the GUI as a result of feedback from usability testing. You can create a view that isolates your modifications from the rest of the release 1.4 development project. Although you work with the same set of files used in the official builds, the versions of the files that you create from this view evolve separately from the versions used in the official builds. When you're satisfied with your usability modifications, you can use ClearCase tools to merge your work with the files used in the official release 1.4 build.