Working with a version control system

Version control systems (VCSes) provide a way to share, synchronize, and back up any kind of file, but often concentrate on text files containing source code. They are categorized into the following two families:

• Centralized systems
• Distributed systems

Let's take a look at the preceding families in the following sections.

Centralized systems

A centralized version control system is based on a single server that holds the files and lets people check in and check out the changes that are made to those files. The principle is quite simple—everyone can get a copy of the files on his/her system and work on them. From there, every user can commit his/her changes to the server. They...