So, for a long time I was a SourceSafe devotee. There is nothing I would recommend more to a person to use, and always use, a good source control tool. However, my new job uses CVS pretty religously, so I needed to figure it out. It is defintely not as easy as SS, but, the more I use it, the more I like it. Plus, you can't beat the price (in other words, it's free.) For more information, see http://www.cvshome.org/.
My boss, David An, shared this tip today and I thought I'd pass it on...
CVS has the ability to auto-expand variables as files are committed. Thus, you can put the variable $Id$ (for instance) into a comment within your code, and it will be automatically expanded upon committing that file. This is great for quickly knowing which version of a particular file is in place.
So, my first file looked like this (it was a JavaScript file, should work for anything):
// here's a comment
I added the variable:
// here's a comment
// version info from CVS: $Id$
and committed it ... my file suddenly became:
// here's a comment
// version info from CVS: $Id: gotolink.js,v 1.5 2003/03/19 17:56:03 davida Exp $
and committed it again, to get:
// here's a comment
// version info from CVS: $Id: gotolink.js,v 1.6 2003/03/19 17:56:58 davida Exp $
Archived Comments
And for those folks who would prefer to not use a command line, I highly recommend TortoiseCVS, which turns your Windows Explorer into a point-and-click CVS client (http://www.tortoisecvs.org)
Another option is WinCVS: http://www.wincvs.org/
So, young Jedi, once SS was the Master, now CVS is the Master!
Welcome to the fabulous world of CVS. There are a heap of resources out there for you if you wnat to read them. I especially recommend DevGuy (http://www.devguy.com/fp/cf.... Also, most of the CVS tools have a "Daily Use Guide" which tends to be very helpful.
Like Nathan says, use Tortoise if you''re developing in Windows, or gCVS if you''re a Linux-head (I am cursed with both diseases).
Spike (Teaboy) just showed me TortoiseCVS and WOAH.. I last used a CVS back in the day with Visual Source Safe (which DWMX basically does now but betterer)..
I''m a convert aswell.
Personally, I can''t develop without CVS. It is almost as important as my editor. I have found that those who don''t like CVS just don''t understand it. I have never known anyone who really understands CVS claim to not like it.