Hello all -
my 2 cents -
Similar to Miha, I was responsible for finding a new version control
system for a project within my company that has been resurrected from
the dead. I knew nothing of revision control. The old code was held
inside of a very ancient version of StarTeam, and nobody wanted to pay
the license fees to get that updated since we had nothing invested in it
as a group.
I chose Subversion because the price was right and the user community
was _HUGE_ compared to many others. The other reason I chose it was
because there was this neat piece of documentation all bundled together
for me to peruse and reference. I knew that if I started using
Subversion that I could always use that documentation for reference. So
I was happy as a clam at high tide.
Kudos to the guys who wrote the book. Technically, it is a phenomenal
reference. However - and I think this is noted somewhere in the
beginning of the book - it is not an easy reference for someone who has
little/no concept of version control. As stated in other notes on this
string - the book did not explicitly tell me what _I_ had to do for the
way _I_ use Subversion. And not having experience with other version
control systems, it makes it harder take the concept and turn it into
application.
So - to end my large essay, I think that a helpful document addition
could be a series of examples in different scenarios (pick two or three
scenarios, and build on them chapter by chapter). I do _NOT_ think this
should be added inline with the main document. More realistically, make
it an addendum to or separate document from with a hyperlink within the
main for those who need more examples.
Regards,
Frank
Miha Vitorovic wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>Having started this thread (well, my response to a question did), I have a
>confession to make :-) When I was deciding upon versioning system, I knew
>nothing about them, and I simply chose Subversion, because I heard a lot
>about CVS, and Subversion is a "better CVS". So, Subversion was chosen,
>and I began reading the book to see how to do things, but as things
>usually go in our line of work, there is never enough time. So I skipped
>most of the details in chapter 4. I started with it, because I wanted to
>understand the trunk/branches/tags concept, but when the book started to
>be very detailed, I decided to "read it later", and "get to know it, as I
>go along".
>
>My other reason was also the fact, that I knew right from the beginning,
>that I will be using Eclipse/Subclipse, and not using the command line at
>all. I see now that I must still use the command line occasionally, but I
>was looking more for a clarification of the concept, than for examples. I
>confess that this was my mistake, and that I forgot how much I have
>actually read back then. So I went back now, and realized "Hey! There's
>plenty of examples." I'll read it now, and see if I can make any
>suggestions, but then again, I am myself "tainted" by the fact, that I
>already know how Subversion works (basic concepts, anyway).
>
>Maybe some more effort could be put into making the concept as clear as
>possible in the first couple of pages (for impatient readers like me), and
>then proceed with examples. And (again for people like me) you could put
>the revision number in the "directory tree" pictures, so that you don't
>force people to parse the output of the commands until they need to; and
>to make it easier for the people who "just look at the pictures" ;)
>
>Cheers,
>---
> Miha Vitorovic
> Inženir v tehničnem področju
> Customer Support Engineer
>
> NIL Data Communications, Tivolska cesta 48, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
> Phone +386 1 4746 500 Fax +386 1 4746 501 http://www.NIL.si
>
>Ben Collins-Sussman <sussman@collab.net> wrote on 03.06.2005 04:08:25:
>
>
>
>>On Jun 2, 2005, at 8:42 PM, Paul Wayper wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Having had to learn Subversion recently, I can relate to this. I
>>>would add that one way that the book could be improved in this
>>>regard is to have one or two examples that are consistently pursued
>>>through the book. For instance, having the example of a calculator
>>>program, and using the example of the writing of the Subversion
>>>book, would be developed and expanded over the course of the book.
>>>This means that the reader can absorb the detail about the example
>>>gradually, rather than having to intuit a lot about the current
>>>example from context.
>>>
>>>
>>Thanks for the feedback.
>>
>>It's interesting... chapter 4 *does* have one example running through
>>it, for explaining branching and merging. But you're saying it
>>should run through all the chapters?
>>
>>
>
>
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Received on Fri Jun 3 14:42:34 2005