Why should I use version control?

Version control is a rare tool that I would say is absolutely required, even if you are only using it as a solo developer. Some people say that it's a tool that you live and die by, I agree with that assertion.

You probably use version control right now, even if you don't know it. Do you have any folders that say "XXX Php Code (December)" or "XXX.php.bak.2"? These are forms of version control already. A good version control system will take care of this for you automatically. You will be able to roll back to any point in time (that you have data checked in) and be able to see an exact copy of that data.

Furthermore, if you adopt a system like subversion, and use a remote repository (such as one on a server you own), you will have a place to keep all of your code. Need a copy of your code somewhere else? No problem, just check it out. Hard drive crash at home? Not an issue (at least with your source code).

Even if you don't use version control now, you will likely use it at one point in time later in your career and you could benefit from becoming more comfortable with the principles now.

Even if you work alone you can benefit from source control. Among others, for these reasons:

• You don't lose anything. I never again commented out code. I simply delete it. It doesn't clutter my screen, and it isn't lost. I can recover it by checking out an old commit.

• You can experiment at will. If it doesn't solve the problem, revert it.

• You can look at previous versions of the code to find out when and where bugs were introduced. git bisect is great in that regard.

• More "advanced" features like branching and merging let you have multiple parallel lines of development. You can work in two simultaneous features without interference and switch back and forth without much hassle.

• You can see "what changed". This may sound basic, but that's something I find myself checking a lot. I very often begin my one-man workflow with: what did I do yesterday?

Just go ahead and try it. Start slowly with basic features and learn others as you go. You will soon find that you won't ever want to go back to "the dark ages" of no VCS.

If you want a local VCS you can setup your own subversion server (what I did in the past), but today I would recommend using git. Much simpler. Simply cd to your code directory and run:

git init

Welcome to the club.

Have you ever:

• Made a change to code, realised it was a mistake and wanted to revert back?
• Lost code or had a backup that was too old?
• Had to maintain multiple versions of a product?
• Wanted to see the difference between two (or more) versions of your code?
• Wanted to prove that a particular change broke or fixed a piece of code?
• Wanted to review the history of some code?
• Wanted to submit a change to someone else's code?
• Wanted to share your code, or let other people work on your code?
• Wanted to see how much work is being done, and where, when and by whom?
• Wanted to experiment with a new feature without interfering with working code?

In these cases, and no doubt others, a version control system should make your life easier.

To misquote a friend: A civilised tool for a civilised age.