Patent ID: 7146608

Claim:
A release control method for providing early deployment releases of a software system, the early deployment releases containing support for new features and platforms, the method comprising the steps of: a. providing an early development branch of the software system that is designated for incorporation of one or more software modules providing support for new features and platforms; b. receiving, from a plurality of integration units, a plurality of pre-tested software modules, wherein each of the pre-tested software modules comprises one or more new features or supports one or more new platforms; c. committing the pre-tested software modules for new features and platforms into the early development branch; and d. using the early development branch, generating a new early development release containing pre-tested software modules for new features and platforms; wherein the pre-tested software module is received at a pre-integration branch that is separate from the early development branch, and wherein the committing step comprises committing pre-tested software modules for new features and platforms from a pre-integration branch into the early development branch.