A source code repository is a file archive and web hosting facility where large amounts of source code for software, but also for web pages are kept, either publicly or privately. They are often used by open-source projects and other multi-developer projects to handle various versions. They help developers submit patches of code in an organized fashion. Often these web sites support version control, bug tracking, release management, mailing lists, and wiki-based documentation.

A component of software configuration management, version control, also known as revision control or source control, is the management of changes to documents, computer programs, large web sites, and other collections of information. Changes are usually identified by a number or letter code, termed the "revision number," "revision level," or simply "revision." For example, an initial set of files is "revision 1." When the first change is made, the resulting set is "revision 2," and so on. Each revision is associated with a timestamp and the person making the change. Revisions can be compared, restored, and with some types of files, merged.