Working with CVS

CVS, especially when managed by a good IDE such as Netbeans, makes it possible for members of a team to develop code simultaneously. Like most powerful tools, it must be used carefully. If used carelessly, the power will turn against you. Here are some good policies to follow.

• Do an update before each work session.
  You want to make sure that you are working with the latest versions of classes that other team members have been working on.
• Before committing your work, build the project and verify the correctness of the changes that you have made.
  If appropriate, do some regression testing.
• When you commit code to the repository:
  • Do another update first. Otherwise you may get an error message due to changes that other team members have made while you were working.
  • Document what you did with the commit message. Include your name and the names of any teammates that made contributions to your efforts. The names should also be included in documentation for any classes that have been modified.
• Commit frequently.
  The longer you work without a commit, the more likely it is that your changes will not integate with changes made by other team members.
• CVS does not eliminate the need to communicate with team members.
  Higher-level design, design that affects all parts of the software, should be done at team meetings. You cannot design pieces of the software without coordinating about the interfaces between the pieces.