Roll of version control in software development

If you are working on development for website or piece of software it is always important to follow the changes. This is difficult when collaborating on projects where number of people will be updating same code. In this environment there is need of version control. Whether you are working with one another developer or contributing to an open source project with thousands version control system helps you to keep records of the work being done. Version control system is a progress chart for a project which allows contributors to stay in sync with each other’s changes when adding new improvements and features. WordPress (Content Management System) is good example of version control in use. In a supervision(SVN) code repository code that runs the CMS is publically available as an open source project. SVN is the specific type of version control, currently used by WordPress, allowing contributors to check out the most recent version of the software code and check in any updates/changes they make to a central repository. This gives access to detailed history of all the changes made to the code and who made them, along with any notes from the developer. There are three different models of version control systems and each one uses slightly different methods to perform essentially the same function:

• Local Data Model: This is the simplest variations of version control, and it requires that all developers have access to the same file system.

• Client-Server Model: Using this model, developers use a single shared repository of files. It does require that all developers have access to the repository via the internet of a local network. This is the model used by Subversion (SVN).

• Distributed Model: In this model, each developer works directly with their own local repository, and changes are shared between repositories as a separate step.

While most modern projects use a distributed model, any of these methods can get the job done if used correctly. It is important to remember, however, that no matter what version control model you chose, all contributions to the project must be made using it or it serves little purpose.