Version Control with Subversion

by Ben Collins-Sussman, Brian W. Fitzpatrick, C. Michael Pilato

Book Overview

Written by members of the development team that maintains Subversion, this is the official guide and reference manual for the popular open source revision control technology. The new edition covers... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0596004486
• ISBN13: 9780596004484
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Length: 299 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

This book is the book you need

If you want to understand subversion, this book will take you through all aspects and it will give you the knowledge you need to plan your own implementation. The online version is good and for things you would like to have a better solution than what the book describes, looking them up in the current online book may show that the feature you wanted has already been implemented. However, the value of having your own paperback version cannot be overstated if you need to know the product well or you're responsible for planning an implementation of it.

Well written manual for a solid software program

If you develop software of any type you quickly learn the importance of a good revision control system. Sometimes a minor change that fixes a bug at one point causes other portions of the program to have problems. Revision control systems allow you keep various versions of your program and go back to a prior version easily. If there are multiple people working on the project then the ability to commit changes and see what happens but easily get back to where you were becomes even more important. If you are writing a modular program then as each person or group changes their module you may need to get a current version of the project with a prior version of a module. A revision control system handles all these problems easily. Subversion is an open source version control system that can be used on any operating system that supports the Apache httpd server including Windows, Linux, and NetWare. Version Control with Subversion is a highly useful book written with a slant toward the Linux OS. It is easy to read and understand if you are at least familiar with version control software at a theoretical level and is highly recommended. One really nice feature is an appendix covering the differences between Subversion and the popular CVS software. If you are used to CVS then this appendix makes the switch to Subversion much easier.

Are you using Subversion yet?

If you're still using CVS, you should be switching to Subversion. Really. If you haven't yet switched because you're not sure of Subversion's capabilities or need some guidance, then this is the book for you. The authors have put together an excellent overview of Subversion in concise detail. Including everything from setup to day-to-day use, this book outlines what you need to not only get your project up and running using Subversion, but also the best practices wisdom gleaned from the project developers' own experience with the system. For this last part alone, the book is worth the money. The book is excellent documentation; well-written and to the point. It's everything you need to effectively use Subversion on a day-to-day basis.

My most important Subversion reference

This book is an excellent resource for novice and experienced Subversion users alike. The first two chapters provide background on why subversion came into existence and general version control concepts. Anybody new to Subversion should carefully read chapter 3. The 'Basic Work Cycle' section explains the day-to-day use of Subversion well. Chapters 5 and 6 have been invaluable in setting up our repositories. I particularly recommend people read the section on choosing a repository layout prior to setting up their repository. Setting up a Subversion repository to be served through Apache is more complicated than a local repository, but the 'httpd' section of chapter 6 clearly covers what to do. We now have a Subversion repository served through Apache that authenticates users with client-side certificates and encrypts communications over SSL. Chapter 7 provided the information I needed to really get Subversion working exactly as I wanted it to. I have modified my config file to set what files Subversion should ignore and also what properties to set automatically. In addition, we have set up our projects so that they all have transparent access to the company's reusable code library using the svn:externals property (covered in the externals definitions section). Appendix A is the place to start if you are an experienced CVS user making the transition to Subversion. There are a few significant changes that you need to be aware of. The examples in the book use the command-line client, but Appendix D (Third Party Tools) provides URLs for the many GUI clients available, if that's your preference.

Subversion (the book and the software) rocks!

If you are a CVS user, you need to immediately move to Subversion. CVS is damaged goods (no atomic commits, broken tags/branches, broken client/server, etc..). Subversion fixes all of this and takes it a generation further (WebDAV access, sensible branching, excellent diff'ing, etc).This book does an excellent job of teaching the reader exactly how to effectively use Subversion. Whether new to revision control, coming from CVS or from some other RC system, the Subversion Book provides a very clear and often humorous guide to effectively deploying, administrating and using Subversion.An excellent book.