Version control can truly be the savior of any development effort. The ability to archive changes, apply labels for quick access to certain snapshots, create disparate and utterly separate branches for risky or extensive changes is incredibly valuable. Many companies have made a whole lot of money providing this necessary tool to developers.
Since I started writing my WordPress plugins, I quickly decided that having version control would be imperative. Tagged release versions, branching out for big changes like the management code on the Spelling Checker plugin or the soft-shadows of the Headline Images plugin (yes, it’s on the way). Luckily I found Subversion. A full-featured version control environment for free. With the add-on package called TortoiseSVN — touted as “The coolest Interface to (Sub)Version Control” — you’ve got a complete, user-friendly version control environment. Not only does it support local repositories for “personal” version control, it also supports remote repositories so that non-collocated teams of developers can work together. As if that weren’t enough I found an honest-to-God O’Reilly online reference book for Subversion. This is the product of choice for the WordPress Plugin Developers’ repository as well.
Subversion’s workflow — like most different version control paradigms — takes some getting used to. If you’re a ClearCase buff or a VOODOO maven, you’ll have a small period of adjustment to get used to the idiosyncrasies of Subversion doctrine. But it’s relatively straightforward and provides everything you’d expect from a version control system.
And sometimes more. For instance, I like that checkins are atomic, unlike the ClearCase LT that we use at my job. There have been several occasions of people getting diddled because they updated in the middle of someone’s checkin and only got half the new files. Those things happen and people get hurt. So really, if you care about humanity, you should look into Subversion.
