Version Control with Subversion

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

One of the greatest frustrations in most software projects is version control: the art of managing changes to information. Today's increasingly fast pace of software development--as programmers make small changes to software one day only to undo them the next--has only heightened the problem; consecutive work on code or single-programmer software is a rare sight these days. Without careful attention to version control, concurrent and collaborative work can create more headaches than it solves. This is where Subversion comes into play.

Written by members of the Subversion open source development team, Version Control with Subversion introduces the powerful new versioning tool designed to be the successor to the Concurrent Version System or CVS. CVS users will find the "look and feel" Subversion comfortably familiar, but under the surface it's far more flexible, robust, and usable, and more importantly, it improves on CVS's more notable flaws.

The book begins with a general introduction to Subversion, the basic concepts behind version control, and a guided tour of Subversion's capabilities and structure. With thorough attention to detail, the authors cover every aspect of installing and configuring Subversion for managing a programming project, documentation, or any other team-based endeavor. Later chapters cover the more complex topics of branching, repository administration, and other advanced features such as properties, externals, and access control. The book ends with reference material and appendices covering a number of useful topics such as a Subversion complete reference and troubleshooting guide.

Version Control with Subversion aims to be useful to readers of widely different backgrounds, from those with no previous experience in version control to experienced sysadmins. If you've never used version control, you'll find everything you need to get started in this book. And if you're a seasoned CVS pro, this book will help you make a painless leap into Subversion.

Genres: Programming, Nonfiction, Reference, Computers, Technical, Computer Science, Engineering

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Rob]

Got through about half of it; did the core exercises for setting up and working with SVN. Didn't really get too deep into the more advanced stuff; my work (at work) isn't technical enough to require that knowledge and my personal projects weren't going to "go there" either.

I found the book clear enough to get the specifics across; I think it assumes a working knowledge of version control concepts though. (That said, it makes a token effort at giving the "high-level overview" for version control more generally. But if you need anything more than what it offers, you're not in the target audience anyway.)

[Doevhiey]

This book very useful to people of widely different backgrounds—from people with no previous experience in version control to experienced system administrators. Depending on our background, certain chapters may be more or less important to you.

[Sean]

Great book for learning and implementing subversion quickly. Lots of clear examples of how to set up repositories, users and the various forms of repository sharing. It was perfect for my learning needs and I continue to use it as a reference.

[B. Andersen]

I needed to get up-to-speed on SVN quickly and this book was exactly what I needed. It is well organized and proceeds though views from an end user making small changes, all the way through things a repository administrator would need to know.

[Jeff]

actually, I'm reading a version of the book from http://svnbook.red-bean.com/

[Christian]

Gute Einführung, viele gut erklärte Informationen - wie bspw. die Tatsache, das Eigenschaften nicht versioniert werden - und praktischer Referenzteil.

Hatte ich 2006 schon einmal gelesen.

[Niels Bjerg]

THE book to read if you need to polish off your svn skills. Concerns about branching, merging and strategies for both will be a thing of the past

[Ivy Reisner]

Great information on how to use Subversion. Not so much on how to set it up. Overall, extremely helpful

[Gaurav G-One]

Awesome book

[Joshua Horvath]

The first few chapters were especially helpful.

[Jack Repenning]

This is the prime reference for Subversion use.