Version control
Version control, also known as source control, revision control, or source code management in software engineering, is a type of system in charge of controlling changes to huge web pages, documents, computer programs, and other informational collections. It is a huge part of software configuration management.
In a sentence, revision control is any kind of practice that tracks and provides control over changes to source code.
Source code
Source code simply known as code is a set of programs written by a programmer in high-level language or plane text understandable to humans. While open source is just source code without a copyright meaning it can be altered by the public.
A source control system or a Source code control system(SCCS) is a kind of system that keeps track of changes made to a file or group of files over time so that you may later refer back to particular versions.
phases in version controls
Examples of version control systems are:
some hosting platforms and software that use version control tools are;
Github https://github.com/
GitLab https://gitlab.com/
Beanstalk https://beanstalkapp.com/
PerForce https://www.perforce.com/
AWS CodeCommit https://aws.amazon.com/codecommit/
Microsoft Team Foundation Server / Azure repo https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/devops/server/
Mercurial https://scm-manager.org
Bitbucket https://bitbucket.org/
A Repository also known as repos are like a database for storage and changes to source codes in version control systems while Branches are like rooms available or created in the repository.
Steps in utilizing a version control hosting software(git as a usecase)
Sign in to your account
Create a new repository /repo
Add a file to your local repo and "commit" (the changes if it’s not the firsts commit)
"Push" your changes to your main branch.
Make a change to your file with a (could be a git) hosting tool and commit
"Pull" the changes to your local machine
Make a "branch" and make changes then commit the change(s)
Make "pull request" (propose changes to the main branch)
"Merge" your branch to the main(or whatever your prior branch was) branch
Most version control systems direct you on how to make your commits so have no fear.
Why use a version control system?
Thy can serve as storage for source codes
When working in a team working from different locations programmers it serves as a way to collaborate and make adjustments
Earlier versions of the code can be assessed if need be
Check https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~mernst/advice/version-control.html for more on version control
Reference
https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~mernst/advice/version-control.html