Version control has been around for a while now, but have you ever wondered why almost every software development team relies on it in some form or another? Version control, also known as source control, is the management of files using a version control system. This system, with appropriate inputs from users, can maintain character level changes for all files stored within. The system comes with powerful features which let you trace every change made in the files, also allowing you to revert to any previously tracked version. This suite of features allows software teams to ship software faster.
What is Version Control
Whenever a team decides to use version control for their project, they initialize a version control engine like Git, Mercurial, etc. in the folder they wish to track. Once initialized, this folder becomes a Repository. Every change that is made in this folder, be it adding new files, editing existing files, deleting files, or even renaming files, can be tracked using the tools provided by the version control engine. The most popular version control system is Git, commonly hosted on GitHub, which you can check out here.
Benefits of Version Control
Using version control in your software team can be beneficial for many reasons, from providing important information regarding authors, tracking the changes in real-time, and many more. Here are a few benefits which version control is most commonly known for:
1. Know the Who, What, When, and Why
Every time a change is made in the repository, it is added to the repository using commits. Every time a commit is made, it contains the name and email of the Author, the timestamp of when the commit was created, a message by the author as to what the commit contains, and the changes in the file itself.
Version control works on character level changes, making sure no change goes missed. The changes are also tracked with timestamps in order to ensure code concurrency is maintained and combining changes from multiple developers can be done efficiently. This level of intricacy ensures that there is a record of every change ever made to your code, helping you to find solutions to previously solved problems, and keep a track of your team’s progress.
2. Allowing developers to work together
Version control makes sure every change in your files is tracked, enabling teams to work in parallel. Members can work on changes on the latest version of the file they have access to at the time, and once it is time to combine the changes, the engine adds them without letting one set of changes overwrite the other. The system relies on timestamps to differentiate the changes across time, so If changes are made frequently to a file, the engine only considers the changes it didn't previously know about. These changes are not always straightforward, so when the engine is unable to resolve the differences itself, it throws conflicts, which require human intervention. These conflicts are resolved by the developers by choosing the correct version of code between the head of the branch (the latest version you have), and the merge head of the branch (the version you are using to update your current version) you have pulled from. This ensures that the code that is being maintained is always the latest version of the code.
Because of the way version control works, it also allows developers to efficiently review code before they merge it with the common branch. In case you are not able to follow these terminologies, don't worry, I will be explaining this in a future blog soon.
Another added benefit to using version control is that the code always resides in the cloud, enabling developers across the world to collaborate on projects without letting the physical distance between them bog them down.
3. Disaster Recovery
There is always a chance for things to go wrong, but when the stakes are this high, your teams need a backup. Version control systems come with built-in support for cloud-based storage, some of which are free for everyone to use (GitHub, Source Forge, etc.). By using version control, your team can ensure that the code they painstakingly write and maintain is always available in a secure and highly available cloud.
4. Maintain Different Versions
Every change in your codebase is tracked, which allows you to maintain different versions of it without hassles. Version control systems also allow you to seamlessly switch between versions, switch to older versions, and much more. So, when your team needs to give a hotfix for a client, you don't need to scramble on finding the deployed version of the code, all you need to do is revert to their version, solve the issue, and get back to what you were up to before calamity struck.
5. Deployments with Continuous Integration
Modern version control systems integrate directly with cloud providers, enabling teams to instantly deploy their code and run automated tests on cloud servers. This enables rapid development in teams and helps the developers ship their code faster and deliver changes in a streamlined manner. Furthermore, as this is done automatically, this can be done as frequently as several times per day.
The flexibility that comes with continuous integration allows developers to fail fast and fail often. Developers can either revert their changes or fix the underlying issues, and deploy the version, all in a matter of minutes. Continuous integration is commonly used in fast-moving agile teams.
Do I really need Version Control?
No, but I highly recommend it. Version control can be really handy even when working on solo projects. It does take a pinch of extra effort and time to work with, but it is always worth it in the long run. In case you haven’t tried using version control in a personal project, give it a go and let me know what you think in the comments below!
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