The Layout of the Book

The book is split into five sections, each covering Subversion from a different perspective.

Part I: An Introduction to Version Control and Subversion

This first part looks at Subversion from the beginner's perspective. It explains what version control is, why it is useful, and how Subversion fits into the version control world. It shows you how to install and set up Subversion, and it walks you through Subversion's essential features.

Chapter 1 An introduction to the essential concepts that make up a version control system.

Chapter 2 An introduction to Subversion's features and how they compare to some other common version control systems.

Chapter 3 A basic guide to installing Subversion on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X.

Chapter 4 A tutorial walkthrough of Subversion, from creating your first repository to basic branching and merging.

Part II: Subversion from a Client User's Perspective

The second part of the book examines Subversion from the perspective of the client user. It takes a detailed look at using the most important Subversion client commands, as well as properties, user configuration, and integration with a variety of external tools.

Chapter 5 Walk through a Subversion working copy and the commands used to interact with it. Most of the common Subversion client commands are covered in this chapter.

Chapter 6 How to use the Subversion tools to work with properties attached to versioned files.

Chapter 7 A look at Subversion client configuration and customization for an individual work environment.

Chapter 8 An overview of many of the client tools that Subversion can integrate and interact with.

Part III: Subversion from an Administrator's Perspective

This is a look at Subversion from the admin's perspective. In this section, I talk about repository administration and organization. I show how to use automation to help integrate Subversion into your development process, and I examine the nuts and bolts of such things as repository security and migration from another version control system.

Chapter 9 Tips on repository organization, as well as how to migrate an old repository to Subversion with minimal loss of history and metadata.

Chapter 10 Basic repository administration: security, backup, and repository maintenance.

Chapter 11 An in-depth look at automation in Subversion, using hook scripts, metadata, and the Subversion API. Includes a number of example scripts that you can use in your project.

Part IV: The Software Development Process

This part takes a look at Subversion from the project manager's perspective. It looks at the software development process and how Subversion can fit into a variety of different types of projects, with many different policies and philosophies.

Chapter 12 An overview of different policies adopted by many development projects and how Subversion can be used to complement those policies.

Chapter 13 An examination of the software development process and how Subversion can be integrated into that process.

Chapter 14 Case studies that examine both archetypal and real-world projects and their use of Subversion.

Part V: Reference

The final section is a Subversion command reference. When you need to look up something quickly, it can be difficult to sift through paragraphs of expositional language. This section takes the essential technical information from the Subversion commands and makes it easy to find quickly.