Version Control

Ever worked on a project which required multiple file edits? Then, at the end of the day, you have to record your progress. At the end of the month, you wish you had a backup of a section of the file as it was in its original form. In the long run, this turns out to be hectic. Luckily, tech has solved this problem through version control systems.

Version control is a practice in which different versions of a tool are managed and organised in a categorical manner for easy access and future reference. With version control systems (VCSs), a user is able to track changes to particular files, revert to previous versions and undo changes. VCSs offer the additional advantage of enhancing collaborative efforts. That is to mean, with a VCS, a group of users can work on the same files, making different edits but still achieving the same goal.

Let's imagine a scenario without a VCS. I would write a file and save it, copy it to a flash drive and give it to a colleague. The colleague would analyse the whole file, make changes, save to two flash drive then give one to me and give the other to another colleague. The second colleague would also review the file, make changes and then submit the same file in two separate flash drives to me and the first colleague. I would then have to look through the different changes made by my colleagues in order to integrate them in my copy. And so on,

Such a long process.

Long story short, just use a VCS.

But what are the available VCSs. Well, VCSs come in three flavours:

• Local Version Control Systems
• Centralised Version Control Systems
• Distributed Version Control Systems

The Distributed VCSs stand out as the most effeciently effective VCSs to use today. The upside here is that all collaborators get to keep full copies of the work. Some examples of Distributed VCSs include Git, Mercurial, Monotone, and Veracity, amongst others.

Git

Git stands out as a popular open source Distributed VCS. As a Distributed VCS, git enables user to mirror the original content into multiple locations. The advantage of this is that when one source of the content dies, or is unavailable, users have multiple sources from which the content may be accessed. As an Open Source DVCS, git affords users all the inherent advantages associated with open source software inclusive of freedom of use, security, great and fast support and interoperability, amongst others.

So, in essence, with Git, one is afforded the advantages of:

• Collaboration
• Backup
• History
• Orderliness
• Easy revision