In FOSS development communities, a forge is a web-based collaborative software platform for both developing and sharing computer applications. A forge platform is generally able to host multiple independent projects.
Contents
For software developers it is a place to host, among others, source code (often version-controlled), bug database and documentation for their projects. For users, a forge is a repository of computer applications.
Software forges have become popular, and have proven successful as a software development model for a large number of software projects.
The term forge refers to a common prefix or suffix adopted by various platforms created after the example of SourceForge (such as GForge and FusionForge). This usage of the word stems from the metalworking forge, used for shaping metal parts.
Technology
Two different kinds of concepts are commonly referred to by the term forge:
All these platforms provide similar tools helpful to software developers working in the hosted projects:
Some provide other features as well:
Examples
Examples of software used to set up a forge:
Examples of forge services: