Free Online Version Control System

I wanted to follow-up my forum post with a workflow of what I have found helpful for implementing a Subversion (SVN) Version Control System (VCS) which I hope to follow-up with a tutorial at a later date once I have made the VCS process as robust and effortlessly as possible.

I have used CVS, SVN, Git and other version control services, but version control using SVN through the Freepository hosting service is far superior than any I have used heretofore and with the basic plan available free of charge (Subversion, 1 user/committer, 1 private repository, unlimited storage) it is a no-brainer.

So, I definitely am touting Freepository as the quintessential SVN hosting platform after trying it out and getting awesome support from the founder, John Minnihan, over this past holiday weekend.

It is also a plus that Freepository works great with TortoiseSVN a SVN client for Windows which can be used to access your SVN repository on Freepository and BitKinex a WebDAV client for Windows which can be used in downloading your entire SVN repository hosted on Freepository to your local drive for periodic backups.

Per Is Subversion the Right Tool?, "[...] If you need to archive old versions of files and directories, possibly resurrect them, or examine logs of how they've changed over time, then Subversion is exactly the right tool for you. If you need to collaborate with people on documents (usually over a network) and keep track of who made which changes, then Subversion is also appropriate. This is why Subversion is so often used in software development environments�working on a development team is an inherently social activity, and Subversion makes it easy to collaborate with other programmers. [...]"

Lots of luck in getting everything up and running. Any trials and tribulations you may have will be well worth the effort as I am finding out as work through the process of getting my SVN VCS up and running using these tools.

I wanted to make a quick update that Freepository is no longer offering free accounts at this time but may offer new free accounts in the future so if you are interested just keep tabs on their website for any updates. Existing free accounts continue unchanged so if you already signed up before this change you should be fine.

Incidentally, I have been using Freepository, TortoiseSVN and BitKinex for the past month and it makes it so much easier to keep your sanity through the many code changes, additions, branches, and such that take place when developing apps so I highly recommend using a Version Control System (VCS) to help you do all of this administrivia automatically.

In fact I would estimate that I am saving on average from three to five hours per week using a VCS to say nothing of being able to very quickly revisit any previous written code within the VCS by going through the log files and comments or by just browsing the trunk, branches, or tags within the project.

This ability to organize code will become even more important once an app goes live since it will allow easy organization of not only the many builds you might do for the different device types and such, but also when you make updates to the code for added functionality in future versions or just simply upgrading and improving the graphics.