Abstract: Software management methods and apparatus for performing software configuration management operations and for supporting build processes are described. Both implied and explicit dependency relationship information is captured and intelligently used in an automated fashion avoiding or reducing the need for human tracking of such relationships. Temporary or non-persistent data elements used during various phases of the software development process are automatically detected, including for example environment variables and their values and the versions of tools used to operate on the software components. A persistent association is created and stored between the normally temporary data element(s) and the software component(s) they affect. Implicit dependencies between data elements and software components are also automatically updated and revision-controlled, making historical and current implicit dependencies persistent.