Parallel Development Model

An important feature of any good SCM tool is the ability to allow multiple users to work on the same component at the same time. This is known as a Parallel Development Model as opposed to the more common Serial Model. With a serial development model, only one user can work on a specific component, locking all others out from changing that component.

The Serial model can create serious bottlenecks in the development process while other members of the team wait to modify a core component.

The Parallel model alleviates these problems by allowing multiple users to work on the same component. There is the problem, however, of incorporating the changes of multiple developers into a single component. This requires the ability to merge changes.