The goal of DevOps teams is to adopt the principles of Agile while using cutting-edge tools to boost productivity and deployment speeds. One of the essential tools successful DevOps teams utilize to speed up deployments and cut down on development time is version control, commonly known as source control. Teams of software engineers can collaborate more quickly because of version control thanks to the rapidly changing IT world of today.
When it comes to DevOps success, robust version control solutions utilized to their maximum potential are crucial. Let’s briefly go through the fundamentals of version control for the purpose of clarity.
What is version control?
Many other names have been coined for version control systems (Version Control Systems). No matter what you call it, it serves the same purpose: to save and track changes to projects across time. You have theoretically utilized a version control system if you have ever used file names like “DevOpsOnesheetFinalVersionMK2.pdf”.
When it comes to open source projects, GitLab has become something of a de facto standard version control tool. Tools for version control, such as GitLab, record all of the revisions made to a project over time, along with details such as when they were made, what was changed, and who made the revisions. Annotations explaining why changes were made typically included as part of the submission process in most version control technologies, providing essential context to anyone who reviews the updated version of a file.
Branches can be created from the primary project “trunk” in order to test modifications independently of the original codebase. These can be “merged” back into the main project after testing and verification are complete. With this kind of version control in place, different programmers can work on the same project at the same time without causing dependency problems or interfering with each other’s progress.
Significance of version control
Successful DevOps teams rely heavily on version control. Successful quick deployment in IT departments correlates with well-honed version control practices for many different reasons.
Squashing Bugs More Quickly and Easily
Anyone who has done a significant amount of coding understands that finding and fixing bugs consumes what feels like the majority of the time. Software developers have a well-deserved reputation for being cynical about bugs because of the enormous amounts of time and energy they may waste. Version control’s continuous and granular tracking of changes to projects gives you instant insight into what went wrong.
Constant Development
Due to the inherently competitive nature of the programming profession, collaborating with other programmers on the same project can be a stressful experience. When modifications are made without informing each member of the team, dependencies (when parts of the program depend on other parts of the program to function properly) can cause significant issues. Linking up with the new changes can be a very easy operation, but without awareness of those changes, new bugs can be developed where none were before.
In version control systems, branches are formed so that one engineer’s modifications do not interfere with another’s programming. An additional feature of version control systems is the ability to add comments to each revision. Because of the meticulous documentation of the modifications performed by each engineer, combining their efforts is much easier.
Trusted final product
The quality and dependability of each deployment can be improved immediately by using version control. Thanks to the enhanced visibility of changes and the context supplied for each alteration, version control systems enable collaborating with others a simpler and more gratifying experience. Version control improves communication without making team members spend all day sending memos to each other, which is the most critical aspect of functioning as a team.