Pragmatic Version Control Using CVS [Paperback]

Dave Thomas (Author), Andy Hunt (Author)

Book Description

Series: Pragmatic Programmers | Publication Date: September 2003

This book is a recipe-based approach to using the CVS Version Control system that will get you up and running quickly--and correctly. All projects need version control: it's a foundational piece of any project's infrastructure. Yet half of all project teams in the U.S. don't use any version control at all. Many others don't use it well, and end up experiencing time-consuming problems.

Version Control, done well, is your "undo" button for the project: nothing is final, and mistakes are easily rolled back. With version control, you'll never again lose a good idea because someone overwrote your file edits. You can always find out easily who made what changes to the source code--and why. Version control is a project-wide time machine. Dial in a date and see exactly what the entire project looked like yesterday, last Tuesday, or even last year.

This book describes a practical, easy-to-follow way of using CVS, the most commonly used version control system in the world (and it's available for free). Instead of presenting the grand Theory of Version Control and describing every possible option (whether you'd ever use it or not), this book focuses on the practical application of CVS. It builds a set of examples of use that parallel the life of typical projects, showing you how to adopt and then enhance your pragmatic use of CVS.

With this book, you can:

• Keep project all assets (not just source code) safe, and never run the risk of losing a great idea
• Know how to undo bad decisions--no matter when they were made
• Learn how to share code safely, and work in parallel for maximum efficiency
• See how to avoid costly code freezes
• Manage 3rd party code

Now there's no excuse not to use professional-grade version control.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dave Thomas, as one of the authors of the Agile Manifesto, understands agility. As the author of "Programming Ruby," he understands Ruby. And, as an active Rails developer, he knows Rails.

Andy Hunt is a programmer turned consultant, author and publisher. He co

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: The Pragmatic Programmers (September 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974514004
• ISBN-13: 978-0974514000
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #991,775 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The idioms you need; not just doc you find elsewhere, March 17, 2004

By 

Bob Carpenter (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pragmatic Version Control Using CVS (Paperback)

Hunt and Thomas, "The Pragmatic Programmers", provide a delightfully brief user's guide for the Concurrent Version System (CVS). They focus on idiomatic usage patterns, leading the way from installing CVS and creating a first project to branching for releases and developer sandboxes. They provide practical advice on when to branch, how to comment, what constitutes a project, and even what to check into CVS in the first place. I've been using CVS for years, and learned a lot here; especially about the various kinds of diff reporting and configuration options.

Almost everyone is confused by CVS first. Almost everyone who gets over the learning curve swears by it (or some variant). The main adoption hurdle is the unix-style documentation that provides telegraphic explanations of commands in insider jargon. Hunt and Thomas explain what it all means, and more importantly, how to use it, and why to use it. Complex relationships like merge conflicts are illustrated with clear diagrams and sensible easy-to-follow examples. Even though I see myself using this book quite a bit, I could've used it even more when I was getting started, before CVS became second nature.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars be the CVS Zen master, September 12, 2004

By 

Dirk Schreckmann (St. Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pragmatic Version Control Using CVS (Paperback)

(The following is an excerpt of a review of "The Pragmatic Starter Kit" I posted at JavaRanch.)

Authors, David Thomas and Andrew Hunt, smashed a home run with their book, "Pragmatic Version Control Using CVS" - the first volume in the three part "The Pragmatic Starter Kit" series. Using easy to read explanations, examples and stories, this book clearly explains what version control is, how it works, why folks are using it, how CVS works, and what commands developers are using during the life of their projects. "Pragmatic Version Control Using CVS" provides the semantics and idioms behind the syntax found in the CVS Manual. Before reading this book, I was a timid CVS user, willing to do little more than check code out. Now, after reading the book, I check code out and in, branch, merge and resolve conflicts with confidence. I'd recommend this book to any developer using a version control system that wouldn't already describe themselves as Zen masters in the craft, and to any developer not already using a version control system.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to do it, April 2, 2006

By 

Noah Green (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pragmatic Version Control Using CVS (Paperback)

I've been grappling with the Concurrent Versioning System (CVS) for years. Moreover, I've been misusing it. Baffled and intimidated by its cryptic syntax and concepts, I've missed out on the power of branching and tagging, and the way these tools can be used to clearly demarcate project releases and versions. Using CVS as little more than a safer place to keep code than a local hard drive and an easier way to pass code around than FTP, I and my teams have failed to benefit from version control's true purpose. Checking code into the mainline only, we've found ourselves holding off on writing or checking in new code while a release is underway, and being forced to add new, untested code to a stable past release in order to fix a bug.

CVS's documentation has never helped matters. The free online manuals (aka "The Fish Book", "The Cederqvist", etc.) are classics and miss no detail documenting CVS's complex and option-laden commands, but say little about what exactly to do with the commands in order to run a successful software project. Other commercial CVS books essentially have been longer-form rewrites of the original manuals. And through it all, CVS's syntax has remained complex and intimidating.

Along comes Pragmatic Version Control Using CVS. With clarity, brevity, and humor, its authors show that version control can and must be the centerpiece of any development process, and they show how to make the humble, aging CVS work as that centerpiece. Taking the successful 80/20 approach, they cover only the features necessary to support the important things in software project execution: maintaining separate versions, marking releases and bug fixes, merging fixes to an old release into the latest version, and even bonus topics like managing third-party code. They take an Occam's Razor to CVS's syntax, leaving you with a small, essential slice that's easy to remember and use. Alongside this syntax, the authors suggest idioms, naming conventions, and techniques. What you end up with is the bare bones of how to run a software project. You start to feel like you're not even using CVS - that you could be using any version control system. The syntax becomes secondary and the process takes center stage.

Here is a summary of their approach: (1) Develop on the mainline; (2) Branch only from the mainline, and only when you're ready to put out a release (or experiment with some great departure from the current codebase); (3) Tag the branch when the release is done; (4) Return to the branch to fix a post-release bug; (5) Tag the branch before and after the bug fix; (6) Merge the bug fix back into the mainline; (7) Get back to work on the mainline; (8) Go home at a reasonable hour. In between all these steps, part of your team can work on the latest version while others launch or patch a release. Old work will not impede new work; new work will not pollute old work. The authors put the "concurrent" back into "CVS."

That's the undergirding of a solid development process. All you need is a tiny subset of CVS's baffling syntax to do it. The book describes the subset.

Please understand that this is not a definitive CVS reference. The authors don't document anything unrelated to the process. Armed with the common sense gained from the Pragmatic book, you can go to the original docs and find what you want.

I read this book over a year ago, and have waited until now to review it. In that time, I've successfully implemented most of its practices in the team that I lead. We can pull down the code tree of any of our past releases in an instant, fix a bug, and redeploy, all without affecting current development efforts - or having those development efforts affect the old release. There's never a question as to which version of the code we're working on. We're safer, smarter, and faster. All it took was a 175 page book, a free version control system, and a bit of open-mindedness. If you're not already doing what this book shows you how to do, start now.