You may have worked hard for many days to resolve a problem in the project you are dealing with. You have cracked the code and are about to achieve what you wanted to. Also, you have saved your final code and then went out to give yourself a treat for the work done. When you come back, you can see that the file is there, but your code is not. Someone had mistakenly overwritten your code. Now, you are left in trouble as to not knowing how much more time it will take for you to rewrite the entire code. It’s a horror!
Hopefully, it may never happen to you this way. If it did every, then you may have learned it the hard way as to how important version control is in development. So, what is version control?
The concept of version control
Version control is primarily a mechanism which will keep track of all the documents, codes, records, and software program among any form of information collection. is a system that keeps record and track of software programs, documents, or any other form of information collection. Typically, a version control system may have two major components as:
A repository – which is primarily a database of all the edits made, which are stored in various versions.
A working copy – It is a personal copy of an individual’s most relevant files. This repository stores the most relevant updates in various versions.
Version control is used to effectively manage the flow between the actual working copy and the repository.
Why is it important?
If you are a software developer, then you can easily relate to the story, which is mentioned above. As a business leader or admin, setting up a unique team to customize Salesforce, it is essential that you should understand the advantages of maintaining a good version control mechanism for your development team. Let’s explore.
Agile development
In an agile development method, a good version control system may provide you the working proof as to how the code was developed to the current page from scratch and who all had contributed towards it. The complete code with changes made from time to time can be instantly accessed by all involved in the developed process, which could further increase the transparency of development and also reduces any dependencies.
Better collaboration
With a great version control system in, everyone in the team who works on any random file at any time has no restrictions. All these different files they work on ca be merged to the working copy whenever they require.
Easy problem solving
A good Salesforce version control system can manage all the directories and files as well as the individual changes to the files and code made from time to time. So, if there is a problem at any point in time, it becomes easier for the developer to find out the root causes and spot the bugs and mistakes. Also, you can go back to any stage and revert to an earlier existing version.
Different types of version control system
There are basically two types of version control systems as centralized and distributed. The major difference in centralized and distributed version control systems is in terms of the repositories. Centralized version control maintains one repository, whereas a distributed version control system has a central repository as well as multiple subsidiary repositories based on the working copies.
In this distributed, every user will have their own version control; however, everyone in the team can access each other’s VCS only when they are made available in the repository. So, the confusion is as to which option is better while choosing the version control. The simple answer is that for larger team sizes, the distributed system may be more beneficial and faster compared to the centralized version control system.
Version control best practices
When it comes to larger projects, large-scale teams may consist of a big number of developers at work. So, it is important to ensure the best output from a version control system; all need to follow some best practices. These best practices are much easy to implement and follow. However, some of those who are a little bit complicated need to be thoroughly thought through before implementation. Let’s have a quick overview of those.
Back up and save the changes: This is the most basic and obvious action to be followed. However, it is also seen that many of the development teams tend to ignore it and suffer largely.
Using a comprehensive naming convention consistently: File names needed to be explanatory and make relevant sense both from work being done and also the business perspective.
Push files to the central repository: For those who are working with the code, it is may not be difficult to put a quick summary of the file to make others understand it better when reviewing later.
All changes need to have a key change to track better: While using version control, one should not be fearful about handling multiple files. This is the reason why version control is there. Each file needs to have a specific change to ensure easy debugging later on.
Define proper access for the individuals and teams for read and edit: Streamlining will help the files to be kept secured and also reduce the risk for any errors by allowing a better focus.
Schedule mergers frequently:
You need to set a timeline for file merger, especially if it’s a big team. The more versions are out there, the more difficult it will be to merge efficiently if you don’t schedule timely mergers.
Even though there are a lot of services that offer Git-based VCS, you can choose the best based on the nature of your Salesforce projects. Some options include, but not limited to:
- GitHub
- GitLab
- Bitbucket
- AutoRabit etc.
All four provide a mature and effective platform for Salesforce development. Your choice of provider to use will come down to the specific needs of the team and business requirements.
