svn suitability for large monolithic code bases

I'm having a problem deciding on the suitability of svn as a replacement
library system.

Our project consists of several thousand programs and several hundred include
files. Currently developers select the ones they need, check them out, noting
possible conflicts with other developers who have also got those elements
checked out, do their work, their testing, then check them back in. From
there they are loaded on a test system for a few weeks before finally being
promoted to production.

If I understand it correctly, the first problem I see is that with svn is that
I couldn't check out individual elements, but would have to check out dozens
or hundreds of elements depending on how fine-grained the containing
directories are structured.

This then leads to other developers not really knowing what elements are being
updated and the possibility of being blind-sided at check in time, which would
cause project delays.

Given svn is in such widespread use I wonder if I've missed something in the
documentation. Is there some way of avoiding this problem?

ian
...

Ian S. Worthington, MBCS.

me: http://isw.me.uk/
photos: http://gallery.isw.me.uk/

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, sed dulcius pro patria vivere, et
dulcissimus pro patria biber. Ergo, bibiamo pro salute patriae.

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Received on 2008-04-24 02:17:08 CEST