Revision Control Overview
In computer software engineering, revision
control is any practice which tracks and provides controls over changes to a project's
source code.
Software developers sometimes use revision control
software to maintain documentation and configuration files as well as source code.
In theory, revision control can be applied to any type of
information record. In practice, however, the more sophisticated techniques and tools for
revision control have rarely been used outside software development circles (though they
could actually be of benefit in many other areas). However, they are beginning to be used
for the electronic tracking of changes to CAD files, supplanting the "manual"
electronic implementation of traditional revision control.
As software is developed and deployed, it is extremely
common for multiple versions of the same software to be deployed in different sites, and
for the software's developers to be working privately on updates.
Bugs and other issues with software are often only present in certain
versions (because of the fixing of some problems and the introduction of others as the
program evolves). Therefore, for the purposes of locating and fixing bugs, it is vitally
important for the debugger to be able to retrieve and run different versions of the
software to determine in which version(s) the problem occurs. It may also be necessary to
develop two versions of the software concurrently (for instance, where one version has
bugs fixed, but no new features, where the other is where new features are worked on).
Another problem that occurs in large software development
projects is that of multiple developers seeking to work on the program at the same
time. If two developers try to change the same file at the same time, without
some method of managing access the developers may well end up overwriting each other's
work.
Some systems attempt to manage who is allowed to make
changes to different aspects of the program, for instance, allowing changes to a file to
be checked by a designated reviewer before being added.
At the simplest level, users can simply retain multiple
copies of the different versions of the program, and number them appropriately. This
simple approach has been used on many large software projects. Whilst this method can
work, it is inefficient (as many near-identical copies of the program will be kept
around), requires a lot of self-discipline on the part of developers, and often leads to
mistakes. Consequently, systems to automate some or all of the revision control process
have been developed.
Most revision control systems use a system called delta
compression, in which only the differences between successive versions of files are
retained, thus allowing the efficient storage of many, many different versions of files.
Some systems also provide methods for preventing
"concurrent access" problems, by simply locking files so that only one developer
has write access to the central "repository" at once; others, such as CVS,
provide facilities to automatically or semi-automatically merge changes. In the
latter type, the concept of a reserved edit means to explicitly lock a file for exclusive
write access, even though a merging capability exists.
The merits and risks for file locking are hotly debated;
while it can provide some protection against difficult-to-resolve merge conflicts when a
user is making radical changes to many sections of a large file (or group of files) that
is constantly being maintained, if the files are left exclusively locked for too long,
other developers can be tempted to simply bypass the revision control software and change
the files locally anyway; this can lead to more serious problems.
Some of the more advanced version control tools offer
many other facilities, allowing deeper integration with other tools and software
engineering processes. Plug-ins are often available for IDEs such as Visual Studio.
In particular the Wikipedia:Page history features of
Wikipedia are identical in concept and practice to the revision control software discussed
above, which was developed for source code control, in the decades before the inception of
Wikipedia.
What is Technical Writing?
HOW one writes is as important as WHAT one writes. So,
language itself is important to enable readers to understand and believe the written text.
Language impacts a reader s
ability to comprehend and assimilate what a writer is presenting.
Furthermore, people can, and do, judge things by outward
appearances all the time, it is essential to make good impressions when communicating in a
business setting. When one communicates (whether writing, giving a speech, or talking on
the phone) information must be presented effectively and to a large degree, attractively.
These elements strongly affect perceived writer and
organizational credibility and professionalism -- highly sought after commodities for
individual and organizational success.
Format, organization, and style are important in that
they make information available, accessible, and readable. Format and the like are the ¡°how¡± of a written presentation. Format choices can give a document the
highly sought after technical or business ¡°look¡± organizations
hope for. In essence, this is part of ¡°corporate identity¡± promotion.
Definitions
There are many definitions of technical writing. It is
seen as its own species of business writing.
Technical writing is a specialized, structured WAY of
writing, where information is PRESENTED in a format and manner that best suits the
cognitive and psychological needs of the readers, so they can respond to a document as its
author intended and achieve the purpose related to that document.
Thus, it is writing formatted and shaped to make reading
as simple, poignant, unequivocal, and enjoyable as possible (i.e., ¡°user friendly¡±). It so happens that most technical writing positions are still primarily
offered to those who can write effective end-user manuals, system design documents, Web
sites, and the like for engineering and IT firms.
A good technical writer can write about a complicated
technical subject or task in ways that almost anyone can understand.
Precision in technical writing tends to be critical
because if anything is described incorrectly, readers may act improperly on what is said,
causing mistakes and problems at work.
The Society for Technical Communication is probably the
premier technical writing association. STC defines technical communication as ¡°The process of gathering information from
experts and presenting it to an audience in a clear, easily understandable form.¡± I think this is a good, all-purpose
definition. ¡°Technical
writing and editing is an umbrella term for any sort of professional communication. It s the interface between your ideas and
the rest of the world¡±.
¡°Technical writing is the
presentation of information that helps the reader solve a particular problem. Technical
communicators write, design, and/or edit proposals, manuals, web pages, lab reports,
newsletters, and many other kinds of professional documents.¡±
It is interesting to note that outside the U.S. the
definition of technical writing tends to stay very consistent. A [U.K.-based firm]
persists that ¡°technical
writing is the presentation of information on any scientific, engineering, or
technological topic in the form most suited to its user.¡±
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article Technical Writing.
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at klariti dot com |
I'm Ivan Walsh, the person behind this site. I help people improve how they write, publish and extend their business assets.