[Chicago-talk] Question of preference

[Steven Lembark]

jason gessner wrote:
> if you share your repo with a team and check in broken code you are a
> jerk.  If you want version control bring it into a local branch or use
> something like svk or __INSERT FANCY NEW DISTRIBUTED VERSION CONTROL
> TOOL DU JOUR HERE__ to help you out, but don't pollute a shared repo
> with code that doesn't work.
>
> if you use VCS for yourself then you can do whatever you feel best,
obviously.

You may be assuming that there was only one
directory (trunk) in an SVN reposotiry or only
untagged code in the CVS repository. In most
situations it can be helpful to have mutiple
directories (in svn) or tags (in CVS).

What works well in most situations with SVN is
to have a 'developers' branch where people can
work on their own code (e.g., ./devel/<username>).
After the code is tested it can be merged back
to the trunk or whatever bugfix it was sourced
from. This allows developers to checkpoint code
by checking it into the repository without
affecting the working branches used for reference
or QA.

In CVS this is done by tagging the current code
as being usable when the tests are complete. In
that case anyone who wants a stable release
simply checks out the stable tag.


-- 
Steven Lembark                                            85-09 90th St.
Workhorse Computing                                 Woodhaven, NY, 11421
lembark at wrkhors.com                                      +1 888 359 3508