Codebase

In <a href="/facts/Software_development/UUfsAaYY">software development</a>, a codebase (or code base) is a collection of <a href="/facts/Source_code/o9J6Jv23">source code</a> used to <a href="/facts/Software_build/uTz1koQy">build</a> a particular <a href="/facts/Software_system/mglVMfTA">software system</a>, <a href="/facts/Application_software/YQuj7Kog">application</a>, or <a href="/facts/Software_componentry/eW5wvSHC">software component</a>. Typically, a codebase includes only human-written <a href="/facts/Source_code/o9J6Jv23">source code</a> system files; thus, a codebase usually does not include source code files generated by tools (generated files) or binary library files (object files), as they can be built from the human-written source code. However, it generally does include configuration and property files, as they are the data necessary for the build.
A codebase is typically stored in a <a href="/facts/Source_control/pxCmFXqK">source control</a> repository in a <a href="/facts/Version_control/pxCmFXqK">version control</a> system. A source code repository is a place where large amounts of source code are kept, either publicly or privately. Source code repositories are used most basically for backups and versioning, and on multi-developer projects to handle various source code versions and to provide aid in resolving conflicts that arise from developers submitting overlapping modifications. 
<a href="/facts/Subversion_(software)/b5j9wAbt">Subversion</a>, <a href="/facts/Git_(software)/U5Ty9QmQ">Git</a> and <a href="/facts/Mercurial/lEkoYb6C">Mercurial</a> are examples of popular tools used to handle this workflow, which are common in open source projects.
For smaller projects, its code may be kept as a non-managed set of files (even the <a href="/facts/Linux_kernel/dlkduHuA">Linux kernel</a> was maintained as a set of files for many years).

Codebase open-in-new

Codebase