Version control

Sometimes we need to control the version of the files we’re working with. It could be because of work, but there are times we just need to because of a personal project. In any case, there’s a need for a system that would help us for that kind of task. For this entry let’s take a look at Subversion.

Jerome Gotangco’s guide to installing Subversion on the Ubuntu Philippines loco page is something that’s quite easy to follow.

Even before you start following that guide, here are some concepts and terms you need to understand first:

• repository - a place where you put all of your files; this is also where you’d be “committing” your revisions and where you’d be “checking out” your revisions and latest copy from
• working copy - the copy of your files that you will work with and it’s on your localhost
• commit - the act of checking in your files into the repository
• check out - the act of fetching files from the repository; this is what the initial fetch from the repository because those that follow are updates
• trunk - your repository’s main source
• branch - your project might have a branch when you’re thinking of working on files from the main source and you will “branch out” and experiment on other things

It’s important that you get yourself familiar with terms first. Using the versioning system might feel a bit weird because of the terms and commands. Although if you think about it, it’s quite consistent anyway. If you feel like you want to give it a go, try downloading Subversion and follow what the guide says. Also, don’t forget to read the Subversion book. As the guide points out there are GUI tools like esvn and Rapid SVN and you’ll find it easier to work with it. Hope you found it useful!