Version Control by Example [Paperback]

Eric Sink (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 25, 2011

This book uses practical examples to explain version control with both centralized and decentralized systems. Topics covered include:

- Basic version control commands and concepts
- Introduction to Distributed Version Control Systems (DVCS)
- Advanced branching workflows
- Strengths and weaknesses of DVCS vs. centralized tools
- Best practices
- How distributed version control works under the hood

Featuring these open source version control tools:

- Apache Subversion
- Mercurial
- Git
- Veracity

You can download a free electronic version of this book at ericsink.com/vcbe/index.html.

We will occasionally give away free printed versions at ericsink.com/entries/vcbe_print_edition_free.html when we have copies available.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Version Control by Example may as well be called The Hitchhiker's Guide to Distributed Version Control -- it's a concise and informative compendium that serves as both an introduction and a manual for practical usage of Mercurial, Git, Veracity, and virtually any other version control system. --Alex Papadimoulis, The Daily WTF

Eric covers multiple tools in lighthearted style that makes a potentially dry subject both amusing and understandable. If version control is a new tool in your programmers belt, this book is a great place to start. --Ben Collins-Sussman, Apache Subversion Developer

Version control is a critical tool in the developer's tool chain. So it's disappointing to consider just how few developers actually understand their version control system beyond the minimal incantations required merely to survive a day of coding at the office. Thanks to Eric Sink's new book on the topic, this need be the case no longer. Version Control by Example is organized well, light in tone, yet saturated with practical illustrations of not only how to choose among and use today's most popular free version control tools, but how to do so with efficiency, understanding, and purpose. --C. Michael Pilato, Apache Subversion Developer

Apache Subversion's rise to popularity opened the floodgates for others to explore new features and designs in version control, the most popular being Distributed Version Control Systems (DVCS). In a balanced way, this book covers the most popular tools today and whether you should choose a DVCS for your development. --Greg Stein, Apache Subversion Developer

About the Author

Eric Sink, founder of SourceGear, has been developing version control tools for over a decade. He is a popular conference speaker and blogger.

Eric is also the author of Eric Sink on the Business of Software (Apress, 2006).

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Pyrenean Gold Press; 1 edition (July 25, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0983507902
• ISBN-13: 978-0983507901
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,168,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy Read, Non Objective, Clear Understanding September 22, 2011

By Scott Cate

This is a great book if you're interested in better understanding Version Control Systems (VCS) and Distributed (DVCS). This book builds a scenario of "He does this" and "She does that" back and forth source code changes, merges, commits, etc. And (here is the best part) then the book walks through this same scenario for Subversion, GIT, Mercurial, and Veracity. So if you're already familial with one system, you can walk the scenario with what you know, and then compare it to another system that you're interested in learning.

(To the author) Eric. Great job! I'm looking fwd to seeing what Veracity has to offer, and how you might be able to change+enhance the Version Control system for BLOB (and of course Text, but BLOB especially) storage.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful detail in an fun and easy to understand format August 23, 2011

By Kerry Jenkins

This book does a good job comparing and contrasting the various methods of source code control. It has a dash of history to help the reader understand the phases that source code control has gone through. I found the comparison of how to accomplish the same task in all the major modern version control systems to be useful. The writing style is easy to read and never boring with fun subtle references ("BR549"). I enjoyed this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good overview September 6, 2011

By Pavel Puchkarev

The book is a very good review of several different version control systems, and does a good job of contrasting them and explaining how they work underneath. Very easy read.