I have started writing a series of articles explaining how to do source control and the best practices thereof. See below for links to the individual chapters in this series. The Introduction explains my motivations and goals for writing this series.
Please note: This is a work in progress. I plan to be adding new
chapters over time, and I may also be revising the existing chapters as I go along.
请注意：这是一个在不断进行的工做。我打算随时添加新的篇章，而且我会修订已经写好的篇章。
Printer-friendly version:Sorry folks, but I currently do not have this material available in a form which is more suitable for paper.Someday I probably will, and when that happens, a link will appear here.
Our universities don't teach people how to do source control.Our employers don't teach people how to do source control.SCM tool vendors don't teach people how to do source control.We need some materials that explain how source control is done.My goal for this series of articles is to create a comprehensive guide to help meet this need.
Sometimes we call it "version control".Sometimes we call it "SCM", which stands for either "software configuration management" or "source code management".Sometimes we call it "source control".I use all these terms interchangeably and make no distinction between them (for now anyway -- configuration management actually carries more advanced connotations I'll discuss later).
By any of these names, source control is an important practice for any software development team.The most basic element in software development is our source code.A source control tool offers a system for managing this source code.
There are many source control tools, and they are all different.However, regardless of which tool you use, it is likely that your source control tool provides some or all of the following basic features:
It provides a historical record of what you have done over time.
It can provide a way for developers to work on separate tasks in parallel, merging their efforts later.
It can provide a way for developers to work together without getting in each others' way.
提供一个空间存放源代码。
提供随时间变化的历史记录。
提供一种方式：人们能够并行的进行被分离的任务，而后再合并。
在没有其余的方式的时候，为开发人员提供一种协同工做的方式。
HOWTO
怎样作呢
My goal for this series of articles is to help people learn how to do source control.I work for SourceGear, a developer tools ISV.We sell an SCM tool called Vault.Through the experience of selling and supporting this product, I have learned something rather surprising:
Nobody is teaching people how to do source control.
没有人在教人们怎样作源码控制。
Our universities often don't teach people how to do source control.We graduate with Computer Science degrees.We know more than we'll ever need to know about discrete math, artificial intelligence and the design of virtual memory systems.But many of us enter the workforce with no knowledge of how to use any of the basic tools of software development, including bug-tracking, unit testing, code coverage, source control, or even IDEs.
Our employers don't teach people how to do source control.In fact, many employers provide their developers with no training at all.
咱们的雇主不会教咱们怎样进行源码控制。实际上，大多数的雇主都没有为员工提供培训。
SCM tool vendors don't teach people how to do source control.We provide documentation on our products, but the help and the manuals usually amount to simple explanations of the program's menus and dialogs.We sort of assume that our customers come to us with a basic background.
Here at SourceGear, our product is positioned specifically as a replacement for SourceSafe.We assume that everyone who buys Vault already knows how to use SourceSafe.However, experience is teaching us that this assumption is often untrue.One of the most common questions received by our support team is from users asking for a solid explanation of the basics of source control.
Some surveys indicate that 70% of software teams do not use any kind of source control tool. I cannot imagine how they cope.
一些调查指出，有70%的软件团队没有使用任何类型的配置管理工具。我很难想象他们会怎样应付。
Throughout this series of articles, I will be sprinkling Best Practices that will appear in sidebar boxes like this one. These boxes will contain pithy and practical tips for developers and managers using SCM tools.
We need some materials that explain how source control is done.My goal for this series of articles is to create a comprehensive guide to help meet this need.
Ideally, a series of articles on the techniques of source control would be tool-neutral, applicable to any of the available SCM tools.It simply makes sense to teach the basic skills without teaching the specifics of any single tool.We learn the basic skills of writing before we learn to use a word processor.
However, in the case of SCM tools, this tool-agnostic approach is somewhat difficult to achieve.Unlike writing, source control is simply not done without the assistance of specialized tools.With no tools at all, the methods of source control are not practical.
Complicating matters further is the fact that not all source control tools are alike.There are at least dozens of SCM tools available, but there is no standard set of features or even a standard terminology.The word "checkout" has different meanings for CVS and SourceSafe.The word "branch" has very different semantics for Subversion and PVCS.
So I will keep the tool-neutral ideal in mind as I write, but my articles will often be somewhat tool-specific.Vault is the tool I know best, since I have played a big part in its design and coding.Furthermore, I freely acknowledge that I have a business incentive to talk about my own product.Although I will often mention other SCM tools, the articles in this series will use the terminology of Vault.
Several SCM tools that I mention in this series are listed below, with hyperlinks for more information.
此处列出当前世界上的部分配置管理工具
我在文章中提到的工具都列在下面，经过连接能够看到更多信息。
nVault.Our product.'Nuff said.
nSourceSafe.Microsoft.Old.Loved.Hated.
nSubversion.Open source.New.Neato.
nCVS.Open source.Old.Reliable.Dusty.
nPerforce.Commercial.A competitor of SourceGear, but one that I admire. (一个SourceGear的竞争对手，可是我很欣赏)
nBitKeeper.Commercial.Uses a distributed repository architecture, so I won't be talking about this one much. （使用一个分布式数据库结构，因此我不会更多的谈及）
nArch.Open source.Distributed repository architecture.Again, I spend most of my words here on tools with a centralized server. （分布式数据库结构，我花了不少的文字在采用集中式服务器的工具上）
This is a very incomplete list.There are many SCM tools, and I am not interested in trying to produce and maintain and accurate listing of them all.
这仅仅是一个不彻底的列表。如今有不少的配置管理工具，我没有兴趣要去尝试维护和精确的列出他们。
Audience
受众、读者
I am writing about source control for programmers and web developers.
我是在写关于程序员和web开发者如何作源码控制。
When we apply some of the concepts of source control to the world of traditional documents, the result is called "document management".I'm not writing about any of those usage scenarios.
When we apply some of the concepts of source control to the world of graphic design, the result is called "asset management".I'm not writing about any of those usage scenarios.
My audience here is the group of people who deal primarily with source code files or HTML files.
个人读者是大量的使用源码文件或HTML文件的人。
Warnings about my writing style
关于个人书写风格的提示。
First of all, let me say a thing or two about political correctness.Through these articles, I will occasionally find the need for gender-specific pronouns.In such situations, I generally try to use the male and female variants of the words with approximately equal frequency.
Discerning readers may notice my tendency to use female pronouns in examples which are positive and male pronouns in situations where the hypothetical person is a bonehead.In part, I use this approach because it seems safer for me to aim my errors of political correctness in that direction.I would also admit that this habit somewhat reflects my general belief that I was born a member of the gender which tends to evidence less character and virtue.
Second of all, please accept my apologies if my dry sense of humor ever becomes a distraction from the material.I am writing about source control and trying to make it interesting.That's like writing about sex and trying to make it boring, so please cut me some slack if I try to make you chuckle along the way.
Source control is a large topic, so there is much to be said.I plan for the chapters of this series to be sorted very roughly from the very basic to the very advanced.In the next chapter, I'll start by defining the most fundamental terminology of source control.
Some surveys indicate that 70% of software teams do not use any kind of source control tool. I cannot imagine how they cope.
Throughout this series of articles, I will be sprinkling Best Practices that will appear in sidebar boxes like this one. These boxes will contain pithy and practical tips for developers and managers using SCM tools.
