Subversion, the peoples choice of source control

I've finally gotten around to sticking my work onto an svn repository, something I'd encourage anybody working on any project to do.

A big part of any project of any size is source control and anybody in the know will tell you that subversion is the only way to go. Coupled with the tortoise shell it's a comprehensive source control utility suitable for amateurs and professionals alike.

In the last few years the amount of online SVN hosts has exploded. With these people you can usually get cheap hosting with plenty of space for your project and without the bother of setting up everything yourself. By now there is a long list of providers to choose from. At the moment I'm giving Code Spaces a try and am liking it so far. But it looks like most of the providers have similar deals so you might as well shop around and see what suits you best.

Once you've got a host sorted it is then just a case of downloading a program called tortoisesvn. This actually integrates itself with your windows shell so committing and updating your files from the repository is always only a right click away.

I'll show you how to do it just in case you haven't used it before. First of all, you should have a repository address. In the case of Code Space it will be https://svn.codespace.com/[your company]/[Your project].

Then, after installing tortoisesvn just right click wherever you want your new workspace to be and click SVN checkout.



Then it's just as simple as pasting in the repository address and clicking okay. You'll be prompted for a user name and password but as long as you click "remember my details" this is the only time you'll ever need to enter them.



Then paste everything you want backed up into the new folder and right click again and click commit, select all and click okay. You'll be prompted to enter a message explaining your commit and then that will be it. Everything will be backed up somewhere remote. Your kid brother can try as hard as he likes to delete every trace of your work but it'll be backed up nice and safe where he can't get at it.

SVN is also great in that it saves every version of you work, so if you regret removing something later down the line or want to track down the code change that introduced a particular bug you can hunt it down efficiently.

Kriegsland is safe now.