Crucible vs. Perforce P4

Depends on the version control and devops process your development teams adopt. Git (via Bitbucket, GitHub, GitLab, etc...) has become the new industry norm, and using pull requests can often provide the same code review features Crucible is used for. However, if you require code review beyond change/diff based (i.e. via pull request), then Crucible allows you to review code with more granular control, such as on per file basis.

Incentivized

For large-scale codebases with fixed and regular releases that do not follow a continuous delivery paradigm, Perforce is certainly well suited. In projects that are small and distinctly separated from other discrete (though potentially dependent) units, the benefits of the Perforce tool may not be as clear of a victor over other systems.

Incentivized

• Easily add comments, identify defects, gather peer input.
• 24/7 input from peers eases developer schedules and location independence.
• Email notifications filtered by group or individuals provide control of who gets notifications, and who can submit comments.

Incentivized

• Merge algorithm is smart and utilizing the visual interface to do merges makes them easier to digest.
• Easy to set up on multiple platforms and architectures and is well supported on all of them.
• Visual interface has many tools and customization options that help to optimize and personalize workflow.

Incentivized

• It can sometimes be a bit slow to load. A server reboot for us tends to solve that issue. I'm not sure if it is a server issue, or maybe Crucible may have some caching issues.
• I wish that you could easily stop the review creation process, rather than abandoning it.

Incentivized

• I was having a hard time learning it. Even if you are an experienced developer, there is some learning curve.
• Can be slow when working with large data sets at once.
• When working on multiple workspaces on the same machine, Perforce can make it difficult not to mess up the code.

We have a need to consolidate into a single package, and have such a large variety of technical proficiency among our users that Perforce seems less suitable. Many would like to remain using it, however, even those who use Perforce are the minority, and are often limited to our development teams.

Incentivized

With Perforce Helix, you can use it via the command line, via P4V, or any of the other APIs included with the product. It is extremely easy for new users to get up and running. Users of Perforce Helix only have to pull in the files of interest to them. Also, Perforce is very easy to script and integrate into your CI/CD pipeline. Streams allows you to have pinpoint control of your workflow, and P4Search is the absolute best--I wish Perforce (the company) would talk more about this. It is absolutely fabulous!

Incentivized

In our large environment, Perforce is rarely "down". We have regular maintenance windows and from time to time Perforce can feel a little slow, but its always available. Tech support has always worked with our engineers and IT department to make sure that any real performance or stability issues are addressed quickly.

Incentivized

Good support overall being an Atlassian product, with options including free/paid official support and community provided help.

Incentivized

I had two representatives from Perforce contact me after downloading it but never responded when I had questions. I also had a difficult time finding good training material for getting started. There is a lot of available support material when running into issues, though, because of how many large companies use it.

Incentivized

This rating is related to setting up an environment from an existing Perforce repository. Initial setup of Perforce as the repository for the company was done by a separate team long prior to my inception.

Incentivized

Gitlab and GitHub are very comparable to Crucible, and would probably be my first choice if those were the tools used for versioning as they are directly linked to git. Crucible was chosen by a current client and I had no choice in its selection. I would probably have chosen GitHub if given a say.

Incentivized

New users of Perforce Helix can be up and running in less than thirty minutes. It is easy to use, but also very powerful. Bitbucket is slow, prone to outages, and (for large teams) requires a team of dedicated administrators. I've had request for information from Bitbucket that requires hours to pull together that would take me less than 30 seconds in Perforce Helix. Large file storage in Bitbucket is clunky and requires you to jump through too many hoops. It's not even something you have to think about with Perforce Helix, as you are only limited by your OS. Perforce Helix is very easy to use even for non-developers. I wouldn't dare ask a non-developer to store their documentation in Bitbucket.

Incentivized

• I am not involved in the acquisition of Crucible so I cannot comment on the financial investment but I believe it is a necessary tool to have in any software shop, small or big.
• As a developer, having Crucible as the code review process is a great asset and will save time and reduce risks which I believe is a positive return of investment.

Incentivized

• Locking assets make us have no merge problems which are harder to manage on other versions control without locking
• Almost no need to give support to artists or non-tech folks because the operations are very straightforward
• There's no way to do interim checkins without going to the process of creating a stream

Incentivized