A few months ago we talked about security in software development, one of the most important aspects of a project. Today we will talk about another basic pillar of the world of programming: version control.
Version control systems are software tools that manage changes made to the source code of projects. Thanks to these tools, developers can consult and compare previous versions of their projects.
Often a small change in code undoes the latest programming, and many times that small change takes time to locate. With version control systems, these types of problems are dealt with in a completely efficient way. Let's see how they work and which are the most frequently used.
The repositories for these tools follow the same tree structure as regular directories. Thus, each team member can focus on a different file and work simultaneously. These systems are prepared to resolve conflicts in the event that more than one developer is working on the same file, and the change log helps detect the steps of each user.
But not only development teams benefit from the features of version control systems. These tools allow you to undo large code changes and create external backups, two functions that any IT professional can use even if they are programming alone.
There's no clear winner among all the options that the IT world offers us. Each version control system offers specific features that will do a better or worse job of adapting to the programming at hand depending on its characteristics. Let's look at some of the features and the advantages and disadvantages of the most frequently used tools.
Git is the most popular version control tool and one of the best options for experienced users with a technical background.
SVN, unlike Git, is based on a client-server architecture. It has some interesting features, such as versioned symlinks, support for empty directories, and logs of copy, move, delete and rename operations. A great system for Windows and projects that don't require distributed access.
Mercurial, just like Git, is a distributed version control system ideal for inexperienced users or less technical profiles.
CVS is based on a client-server architecture like that of SVN, and it has been around for a long time in the development world, making it an excellent choice for open source projects.
Monotone is an open source distributed version control tool that can be integrated into many operating systems. It prioritises integrity over performance, employs cryptographic techniques to track file versions and authentications, it can import CVS projects and use the netsync protocol.
Version control systems are not only a useful and basic tool for software development, but also an opportunity to specialise in their use. Integrating this type of system in companies is not always an easy task. If you want to learn about all the options that the IT world can offer you, from biometric security applications to new remote work offers, don't think twice and get started with BEWTEEN!