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Chapter 1. An introduction to TeamConnection
TeamConnection provides an environment and tools to make software development run
smoothly, whether your development team is small or large. Using TeamConnection,
you can communicate with and share data among team members to keep up with the
many tasks in the development life cycle, from planning through maintenance.
What does TeamConnection do for you? It takes care of the following:
v
Configuration management
: the process of identifying, organizing, managing, and
controlling software modules as they change over time. This includes controlling
access to your software modules and providing notification to team members as
software modules change.
v
Release management
: the logical organization of objects that are related to an
application. The release provides a logical view of objects that must be built, tested,
and distributed together. Releases are versioned, built, and packaged.
v
Version control
: the tracking of relationships among the versions of the various parts
that make up an application. Version control enables you to build your product using
stable levels of code, even if the code is constantly changing. It provides control over
which changes are available to everyone and, optionally, allows more than one
developer at a time to update a part.
v
Change control
: the controlling of changes to parts that are stored in
TeamConnection. TeamConnection keeps track of any part changes you make and
the reasons you make them. Your development team can build releases with
accuracy and efficiency, even as the parts evolve. The product ensures that the
change process is followed and that the changes are authorized. After changes are
made, it allows you to integrate the changes and build the application.
TeamConnection tracks all changes to the parts across multiple products and
environments.
The
change control process
is configurable. Your team can decide how strict the
change control should be, from loose to very tight. You can also adjust the level of
control as you move through a development cycle.
v
Build support
: the function that enables you to define the structure of your application
and then to create it within TeamConnection from your input parts. Independent steps
in a build can run in parallel on different servers, thus reducing your build time. You
can build applications for platforms in addition to the one TeamConnection runs
on—currently, you can use TeamConnection to build applications on AIX, HP-UX,
OS/2, Windows NT, Windows 95, Solaris, MVS, and MVS OpenEdition.
v
Packaging support
: the preparation of your application for electronic distribution to
other users.
This chapter defines the basic terms and concepts you need to make the most of
TeamConnection. Read this chapter first; then decide which information you need next:
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