Using Subversion for Source Code Control

By Michael McLennan

Purdue University

Published on

Abstract

If you're developing software, you should be storing your code in a source code control system. The nanoHUB team recommends Subversion, because it is easy to use, open source, and available on Unix/Linux, Windows, MacOSX, and many other systems. Subversion is similar to the popular CVS system (based on RCS), so if you're familiar with CVS, you'll feel right at home with Subversion. Subversion adds SSL encryption and other features that make it even easier to use than CVS.

Using Subversion is a good software development practice, because it helps you manage changes to your code and maintain a history of all changes. You can look at previous versions of your code and back out changes. Best of all, you can manage all of the changes being made by a team of people working on the same code at the same time.

If you're developing a tool for nanoHUB, using Subversion is more than just good practice. It is required. You'll have to upload your code into the Subversion repository associated with your tool project before your tool can be deployed on the nanoHUB site. You can continue to make changes to your code within Subversion, and deploy new versions at any time.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to use the "svn" command to create a repository, store your code, make changes, and integrate the changes made by other developers working on other systems.

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Cite this work

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

  • Michael McLennan (2007), "Using Subversion for Source Code Control," https://nanohub.org/resources/3061.

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