C(oncurent)V(ersioning)S(ystem) is one of numerous control versioning systems. All variety of source control systems can be divided into 3 groups: SourceSafe, Serious commercial systems, CVS. Let us compare these classes and see what features distinguish CVS from other systems.

MS SourceSafe is referred to a separate class since this system is supplied with Microsoft development environment. That is why the system is widespread, though its functionalities are not sufficient for serious work. Firstly, it is difficult to organize work of a large group of users since in this case SourceSafe requires too many system resources. Secondly, it cannot be used for effective work even of one or two users, since remote access is not provided. See detailed Comparison table SourceSafe vs. CVS.

Serious commercial systems are probably worthy of notice. But really good systems are very expensive, though they do not provide any of special functionalities that CVS lacks. Moreover, their field of application is usually limited to development tools having SCCI API (basically Microsoft), their own shells, or to development tools for which they were initially meant (for example, Borland). As a rule, they work only with Windows. All this puts in doubt the necessity of investing money in these systems.

What distinguishes CVS from other systems?

• CVS came from UNIX systems, and it is used in all platforms nowadays.
• CVS is an old tool and very reliable. Literally, it occupies large share of the market of source control systems, and the number of its users is greater than the number of users of all other systems taken together. This is so because CVS is a standard for OpenSource programming. Just take a look at http://www.sourceforge.org to make sure that it will cope with your project without problems.
• CVS supports all SourceControl system functionalities. CVS neither contains anything not necessary nor lacks anything.
• CVS supports remote access, including low-speed connections.
• CVS is initially integrated with many development environments. By means of CVSSCCProxy it can be integrated with any development environment. Thus, CVS is a universal decision, irrespective of the programming language you use and of a platform you write programs for. It is very important, since, having once spent your time on its study you won't have to retrain.
• And finally, CVS is almost free. Why almost? CVS is almost free because you will have to spend your time on training, and time is money indirectly paid for CVS. In case of using CVSSCCProxy we take some money for our support, which will reduce time you will spend on studying CVS, and for the development of next versions which will be also useful for you.