Introduction to Version control systems
Why do we need version control systems?
When working on projects, there is often a need to roll back to previous steps or review the changes made. These tasks become more complicated if several people work on the same project, especially if they are located in different cities and countries. The traditional approach with the creation of archives or documents, for example, named in a special way "report_family data_version_references", has obvious drawbacks:
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Files may be lost;
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Files may be corrupted and not recoverable;
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Viewing changes may be difficult or impossible;
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It is often required to store files without special marking or other marking.
These problems make traditional versioning methods unreliable and inefficient, especially in conditions of teamwork and geographical distribution. Thus, the need for version control systems becomes obvious to ensure structured, secure and convenient file change management.
In modern teamwork and project work, version control systems play a key role in various fields, including software development, project management, documentation writing and research.
What can version control systems do?
Any version control system will provide a solution to versioning problems using operations. Consider the example of Git:
| The versioning problem | Solution method | Operation | Description of the operation |
|---|---|---|---|
File loss |
Fixing changes |
Creates a "cast" (commit) the status of the project and the assignment of a unique identifier to it. |
|
The files are corrupted and cannot be restored |
Rollback to previous changes |
Restores an earlier state (not necessarily the previous one) from commits. |
|
Is it difficult or impossible to view changes |
Viewing changes via Git operations |
Building a "difference" between different project states. |
|
Files should not contain special labels |
Each commit has a unique identifier (revision) |
Each commit has its own unique revision (40-character string), which allows you to refer to any specific commit. |
Regardless of the chosen version control system, the basic concepts remain common:
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Repository — a central repository for managing and tracking changes in files;
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Commit is a completed and saved change to the local repository in a particular branch. Commits serve as restore points to which you can return (roll back changes) if necessary;
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Branch — an independent sequence of commits forming a parallel version of the repository, allowing you to work in parallel from the main repository (branching).
With the help of branches, key features of version control systems are implemented — branching and merging:
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Branching allows you to create independent development lines where everyone can work on their task without being influenced by the main branch. This provides isolation of changes and parallel development with the possibility of subsequent merging of changes.
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Merge allows you to integrate changes into the main branch (repository) of the project. Merging allows you to maintain the integrity of the project by combining different branches into a single whole. This provides the ability to compare and view changes, as well as return to previous versions.
| A distinction should be made between a version control system and a means of working with it. So, the Git version control system is integrated into Engee, and the portal git.engee.com is an internet application for working with this system. |
Why does Engee use the Git version control system?
Engee uses Git, the most popular version control system distributed under the free GNU General Public License version 2.0. Git works with any files, but external tools may be required to merge or view changes correctly (for more information, see official Git website).
Engee uses Git because of the following advantages:
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Due to the decentralization of the repository, users work with their local copies of the project, which reduces the risk of making errors in the main repository. Even if a serious error is made in the main branch, all changes can be rolled back to the desired state.
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Git is easy to learn, has a huge community of developers and users, and provides high reliability and data integrity.
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Git provides many possibilities for configuration and integration with various tools and services, for example Git Engee.
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Git uses a hashing mechanism (SHA-1) to store all data and metadata using revisions, which allows you to refer to any particular commit in any context, whether when working with the history of changes, creating branches or when merging them.
Thus, the usage of Git in Engee is an indispensable practice for working on any project.