1. Introduction to version management

Version management or version control is a general term for keeping control of changes made to software, documents, this page you are viewing right now on my.blueriq.com and so on. 

 Version management can be controlled by stand-alone software like Subversion (SVN) or Git, which are two popular open source version control systems. Version management can also be embedded in the software, for instance within web applications to keep track of changes to documents or spreadsheets or blogging software. 

In general implementing or using version management will bring several benefits. Among them for instance:

• Multiple developers will be able to make changes to the same application or even the same files without interfering with each others work
• Previous versions can be retrieved and changed if necessary, e.g. to fix a bug in a previous version
• There can always be a releasable version of the application, even if not all features have been implemented

Although there are differences between the numerous stand-alone solutions for version management and the built-in functionalities they do share many general concepts. Searching the web will teach you more about these general concepts and the available software solutions. 

Blueriq Studio Version Management is embedded in the software. 

helps you keep track of and provide control over changes to your models.

When you start developing a new application, the first thing you need is a repository. This repository can be viewed upon as a sort of file folder where all your future application development will be stored. Version management is the management of changes to projects. It ensures that multiple developers can make changes without interfering with each others work, that there always is a releasable version of the project and that the project can be released, even if not all features have been implemented. This last option can be helpful if a deadline has to be met.

Development in the repository starts with a single branch. Branches are formed over time when you develop your application and register (or commit) the changes you made in the version management system. Every time you register your changes, version management creates a so called revision. Each revision contains the state that your application was in at the time that the revision was made. A sequence of revisions is called a branch. So after creating your repository, your first branch will contain just one special revision called the working revision. The working revision contains the current state of your development.