What exactly is source control?

Question

So I'm using Visual Studio 2012, and whenever I create a new project I always leave out the "Add to source control" option, mainly because I don't what it is, what it's purpose is, or if it would be beneficial to me to use it.

I'm developing a rather large library on my own. I plan on making it open source. Is this what source control is for? Reading up online did not help me unfortunately, I'm still desperately confused. Is source control the same as version control too, by the way?

Some clarification would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Alex

Answer 1

Quite simply, source control is a repository where your source code is stored. It's purpose is to provide a storage spot that is separate to the copy that you are currently working with, so you can make changes locally and then submit them back to your source control repository.

Think of it as being like a library - you can get code out, you can return (modified) code to it. It also gets more complex than that - you can use source control to handle multiple versions of the same source, and to merge changes from one copy to another. Additionally most (all) source control systems should provide a mechanism for tracing changes to code (i.e. audit tracking), and a means to "roll back" or revert to a previous version.

There are a variety of source control systems, some of which you install locally and some which you install centrally and access remotely. In all cases the underlying philosophies are mostly the same, although there are some differences around terminology and implementation of features. Source control is considered to be a system that is separate to your editor, your editor then provides a means to specify which source control provider to use and the location of the source control repository.

Answer 2

Source control (otherwise known as revision control: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revision_control) is a way in which you can store and manage changes and revisions to your code-base.

Google: SVN, Git, Mercurial and Google Code, GitHub, Bitbucket.

I personally never start a propject (personal or otherwise without it). Also, I like BitBucket (www.Bitbucket.com) for managing my projects. It's free for a single user and they support Git and Mercurial.

Answer 3

I have found this

Git Source Control Provider is a plug-in that integrates git with Visual Studio

According to this, seems like source control = version control

Answer 4

You were asked this when starting a project because it's much easier to setup before you have many messy pieces. Github is a form of version control. An organized place for code to grow.

Version control really shines if you're collaboratively working on a project with many different pieces to it. Source or version control is the process of taking the many different parts that are being worked on simultaneously and bringing them together as a final project.

If you're working on your own it still may be beneficial to practice with, as still holds some value in allowing a process of documentation, and modular pieces being brought together for a final project.

This wonderful post explains many of the benefits of using version control for your pet projects.

Well, there are a number of good reasons:

1. It’s good to be in the habit. Sure, you may be working alone. But in the future you may not be. Or your “weekend hobby project” might turn into a popular project with many developers. If anything like that happens, being in the habit of using source code control will stand you in good stead.

2. It protects your code. Since your code is stored in on a server apart from your development machine, you have a backup. And then, you can even backup the code on the server. Sure, you can zip it all up any time you want, but you don’t get all the other benefits I’m listing here.

3. It can save your butt. Sometimes, you might accidently delete something. You might make mistakes and change code that you didn’t want changed. You might start off on some crazy idea when you are feeling a bit saucy, and then regret it. Source control can save you from all of these by making it a piece of cake to revert to any previous state. It’s like a really powerful “undo” feature.

Answer 5

Wikipedia says:

Revision control, also known as version control and source control (and an aspect of software configuration management), is the management of changes to documents, computer programs, large web sites, and other collections of information. Changes are usually identified by a number or letter code, termed the "revision number", "revision level", or simply "revision". For example, an initial set of files is "revision 1". When the first change is made, the resulting set is "revision 2", and so on. Each revision is associated with a timestamp and the person making the change. Revisions can be compared, restored, and with some types of files, merged.

In simpler terms, source control allows multiple people to work on the same project without everyone clobbering everyone else's changes. Changes to the same file are merged together, and conflicts can be resolved.

It also allows you to keep version history. You can roll back a file to the way it existed at any point in time, as well as maintain different branches of the program; a way to organize groups of changes.

Answer 6

"Source control" refers to the concept of storing all files that make up the source of an application in an (usually online) repository - where one can manage with fine detail exactly what has changed in the source code between versions, manage issues, involve other people with the project, and generally provide a platform to collaboratively manage a project.

The term is usually synonymous with version control - although you can have a repository and not explicitly name versions. Version control in particular just refers to labeling major versions of your project with a hierarchical numbering scheme (1.2.4 etc.)

There are several different tools that implement different kinds of source control. For example, Git is a source control tool that sets lets you manage a project. Github is a web-site that repositories managed with Git are usually stored on. Mercurial is yet another source control tool.

Typically, source control can be complicated to understand, and usually requires significant time studying tutorials. A lot of concepts are unfamiliar to solo programmers who have only worked on small projects. Changes to source code are managed through commits, and different branches of the project can be worked on by multiple people. Changes from separate branches can be merged, and the project can be forked by another user entirely (at least for Git).

Making your library open source is a good idea, and it's not too hard to give it a home on github. I would look into some resources to find out how to set it up.

Answer 7

As Si puts it, source (or version) control will save your life 20 times over.

Source control keeps a detailed history of your code. This enables you and any collaborators to:

• Review the history of any code
• See changes between two versions
• Revert any code you just goofed up
• Prevent you from losing any code
• Discover which changes caused bugs / crashes
• Blame whoever messes up your code
• Keep an up-to-date backup of all of your code

Even if you're not working collaboratively, source control is so useful when you accidentally delete your code. I speak from experience.

I would recommend using Git or Mercurial, as they allow branching and offer a more isolated workspace for collaborators to experiment without fear of harming any code.

For online collaboration, Github and Bitbucket are great and integrate well with Git and Mercurial, respectively. They also allow you to track collaborators' changes, choose and merge changes into a central repository, and keep a detailed list of issues.