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======How to use version control (and why)====== | ======How to use version control (and why)====== | ||
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+ | [[:Version control]] is a way to develop software in a scalable way. Even if you are the only person working on a project, it enables you to write code with more confidence, as you know you have every change tracked - no more wondering what you did which broke everything, as you can find out easily. You can also tag points in development for retrieval later on - it's a good idea to do this before working on big structural changes which could cause instability while you work on them. | ||
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+ | Version control can be also be used in order to share development between groups of people, up to hundreds of developers. It takes care of merging all the changes together (which often worries people new to version control) but it generally works well, and if it finds a confusing case (normally where two developers have changed the same line of code) it asks you to confirm what it's doing. | ||
=====Usage pattern===== | =====Usage pattern===== | ||
+ | Before we get into using svn, there are some basic usage patterns which are common to all revision control systems. You get the most out of version control if you make it part of your daily programming routine. | ||
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+ | The general idea is that code lives on a remote server, and you keep a local copy of the source on your hard drive. You edit files and compile as normal then ' | ||
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+ | The smaller the changes, and the more frequently you check in code, the less hassle you will cause for yourself and other people. This is an example day's work: | ||
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+ | * First thing, updated to get the latest code | ||
+ | * Fixed a bug | ||
+ | * Commit with a message explaining what you fixed | ||
+ | * Start working on a new feature | ||
+ | * While doing that, found and fixed another bug | ||
+ | * Commit the files you changed to fix the bug (not the ones involved with the new feature) | ||
+ | * Finish working on the new feature | ||
+ | * Commit with a message explaining what the new feature is | ||
+ | * Update the code again | ||
+ | * Start working on the next feature | ||
+ | |||
+ | And so on. The messages are important - they only need to be short one liners, but they need to explain why you changed what you did - but there is no need to explain what the changes were (you can tell this from the code, so it would be redundant information). | ||
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+ | =====SVN Basics===== | ||
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+ | I've set up the lirec svn repository with a dummy project called ' | ||
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+ | Firstly svn likes to know what editor you like to use so it can launch it to ask you to input comments for your code commits. Put this in your .bashrc: | ||
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+ | < | ||
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+ | Or the equivalent in windows [TODO]. | ||
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+ | ====Getting the code==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | Firstly go to a directory where you want to keep your code and run: | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | |||
+ | Obviously replacing " | ||
+ | |||
+ | ====Make some changes==== | ||
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+ | cd into ' | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | |||
+ | This will pop up the editor you specified earlier. Add a nice informative message (you should always add a message saying why you've made the change). Save the file, and close the editor. If all is well, your change is now on the svn server. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ====Adding files==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | Will add individual files, or recursively add files in a directory. | ||
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+ | ====Directories, | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | Will make a new empty directory registered with svn. | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | Will move or rename a file. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ====Updating==== | ||
+ | < | ||