Git - Why Do We Need Version Control?

Topics & Timestamps

This week we discussed and debated all things version control, including the most popular type - Git, but also some other more niche ones including CVS, Mercurial, and SVN.

What is version control? What types are there?

• Episode Introduction | 00:01:27
  - What is version control?
  - Version control systems (Git, CVS, SVN, Mercurial)
  - Who made git?

Why do we need version control?

• How and why version control is used | 00:05:40
  - History of changes
  - Revert unwanted changes
  - Multiple people contributing to a codebase
  - Merging and branching changes
  - Deployment and continuous integration (CI)
• Git verbiage w/ explanations | 00:10:00
  - Clone
  - Branch
  - Pull Request
  - Merge
  - Commit
  - Repository (local repo, remote repo)
  - Push
  - Pull
  - Fetch
• How and why version control is used (continued) | 00:15:53
  - Multiple people contributing to a codebase
• When should you learn version control? | 00:18:00
  - Syntax learning versus learning git
  - Version control for solo coders and/or portfolio projects
  - The importance of version control in an interview
  - Version control in school curriculum (ie high school, college)
• How and why version control is used (continued, again) | 00:42:02
  - Merging and branching changes
  - Deployment and continuous integration (CI)
  - Summary/review of how and why version control is used

Git Workflows & Git Rebase

• Mike's git workflow | 00:44:24
  - Branch off dev with name of the JIRA ticket (ie BRD-123)
  - Do changes in that branch
  - Create a pull request into dev once changes are done
  - Pull requests must be reviewed and merged
  - Dev is then tested on QA or preproduction
  - Once testing is done dev is merged into the main and deployment is kicked off
• If dev is updated before your pull request goes through | 00:48:30
  - git pull origin dev
  - Merge management
• Git rebase | 00:50:24
  - Combine commits into one making history management easier
  - This can backfire if misused