Sifting through the software sandbox: SCM meets QA

Thanks to modern SCM (software configuration management) systems, when developers work on a codeline they leave behind a trail of clues that can reveal what parts of the code have been modified, when, how, and by whom. For decades developers have used defect-tracking tools to manage information about known bugs and requests for improvements. Almost all such tools include fields that identify the nature and severity of each problem, as well as such information as when it was recorded and when it was fixed. Early SCMs monitored change to each line of code, but that becomes unwieldy with large projects. Next generation SCMs include the ability to submit a group of changes at once and to request notification when specific changes occur. Some SCM systems incorporate defect trackers. What's to come for SCMs? GUI interfaces and real-time report generation, which will make a huge difference when answering the question, "Is it ready to ship?"