Ultra-simple LightWeight light source for Visual Studio projects?

Question

I am using an SVN tortoise with Ankh. I really spent too much time setting up and cleaning up the mess from time to time, and I lost hope in teaching each developer how to use things correctly. I'm sorry, but I'm tired and tired of repairing the repository / reverse / merge fix manually, sometimes even having to write code again.

So here is my question: Is there a chimpanzee-friendly solution for version control privileges Simplicity over flexibility ? Projects and teams are small, and I realized that we just need VERY simple and simple chekout / checkin mechanisms, without prosperity and limited functionality and capabilities. This will help me stop being paranoid in terms of project integrity.

I know that there is no easy way to do this, and requires minimal technicality and discipline, but I was wondering if we really need everything that in our case, as in the long term, it causes more problems than it helps.

Answer 1

First, I suggest you get developers to clean up their own riots, rather than doing it for them. By doing this for them, you only encourage them to remain ignorant. In general, be a resource and provide assistance for them, but get them to do it themselves . They quickly find out what they have.

Secondly, there are several options that have such integration with VS that most developers would like. SVN is one of them. Team System is another (but much more expensive and complex solution). Visual Source Safe is also an option, but it is a really old obsolete system that has not been updated since 2005 (and even this, basically, was a fix for a system that had not been updated 7 years before).

If you want free, it costs nothing to use, it's easier than Subversion. Everything else will be ancient technology (like CVS) that will have even more problems. There are several free SCMs that are more powerful, such as git and Mercurial, but you will have even more problems. If you are willing to pay, then many third-party tools have the best tools for merging and rendering. I like AccuRev .

There are also some of the best commercial visual studio SVN plugins that can also help. I have not used any of them, but they can improve the use of SVN by developers.

Answer 2

Your problem sounds as if it has more to do with branching processes and strategies than with anything else.

If your developers know that they always get the latest code before checking and resolving conflicts locally, running all the tests, etc., you will already have a leg.

Enlighten your developers instead of trying to use a disabled SCM (which in the future will probably not suit your needs).

Regarding the branching strategy - I found that a branch for each function is the most natural way of working and basically prevents merge conflicts.

Changing SCM will not help with your problems unless you deal with the process and branching.

Answer 3

Try the combination of Mercurial and Tortoisehg as a GUI. You can also use it from Visual Studio with VisualHG . Each developer can clone and manage their own repository. Once you reach an agreement, you can click on the peers repository or on the center spot.

To help with adoption, you can convince others to watch DVCS videos on the FogCreek Kiln page .

See what-makes-merging-in-dvcs-easy and similar SO discussions on the relative ease of merging.

Answer 4

I would say that every developer working in a team should have a good understanding of version control principles. Maybe you should become better developers !:-)

To answer your question, I always found Team System wonderful and very flexible. With such good integration, the IDE can be customized to provide best practice source management. However, it is a fairly large source code management system, so you can be at the top for your purposes.

Answer 5

I believe that problems are more a process than a product. Strict written documentation and process can work. Keep it as simple as possible. You can make a commitment to the process contractual.

I said that I was very lucky with Visual SVN for Visual Studio. It is easy to use and integrates well.

If this is too complicated, it might return to TortoiseSVN, which is pretty idiotic proof.

As for the alternative super simple product, I do not know such a product, but if you really need something light, then the datestamped and named zip files are a poor and uninformed form of source control. Merger and However, recovery is a bitch.