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<p>This text is a work in progress—highly subject to
change—and may not accurately describe any released
version of the Apache™ Subversion® software.
Bookmarking or otherwise referring others to this page is
probably not such a smart idea. Please visit
<a href="http://www.svnbook.com/">http://www.svnbook.com/</a>
for stable versions of this book.</p>
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<h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="svn.preface.howread"></a>How to Read This Book</h2>
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<p>Technical books always face a certain dilemma: whether to
cater to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">top-down</span>”</span> or to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">bottom-up</span>”</span>
learners. A top-down learner prefers to read or skim
documentation, getting a large overview of how the system works;
only then does she actually start using the software. A
bottom-up learner is a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">learn by doing</span>”</span>
person—someone who just wants to dive into the software
and figure it out as she goes, referring to book sections when
necessary. Most books tend to be written for one type of person
or the other, and this book is undoubtedly biased toward
top-down learners. (And if you're actually reading this
section, you're probably already a top-down learner yourself!)
However, if you're a bottom-up person, don't despair. While the
book may be laid out as a broad survey of Subversion topics, the
content of each section tends to be heavy with specific examples
that you can try-by-doing. For the impatient folks who just
want to get going, you can jump right to
<a class="xref" href="svn.intro.html" title="Appendix A. Subversion Quick-Start Guide">Appendix A, <em>Subversion Quick-Start Guide</em></a>.</p>
<p>Regardless of your learning style, this book aims to be
useful to people of widely different backgrounds—from
those with no previous experience in version control to
experienced system administrators. Depending on your own
background, certain chapters may be more or less important to
you. The following can be considered a
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">recommended reading list</span>”</span> for various types of
readers:</p>
<div class="variablelist">
<dl>
<dt>
<span class="term">Experienced system administrators</span>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>The assumption here is that you've probably used
version control before and are dying to get a
Subversion server up and running ASAP.
<a class="xref" href="svn.reposadmin.html" title="Chapter 5. Repository Administration">Chapter 5, <em>Repository Administration</em></a> and
<a class="xref" href="svn.serverconfig.html" title="Chapter 6. Server Configuration">Chapter 6, <em>Server Configuration</em></a> will show you how to
create your first repository and make it available over
the network. After that's done,
<a class="xref" href="svn.tour.html" title="Chapter 2. Basic Usage">Chapter 2, <em>Basic Usage</em></a> and
<a class="xref" href="svn.forcvs.html" title="Appendix B. Subversion for CVS Users">Appendix B, <em>Subversion for CVS Users</em></a> are the fastest routes to
learning the Subversion client.</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<span class="term">New users</span>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>Your administrator has probably set up Subversion
already, and you need to learn how to use the client. If
you've never used a version control system, then
<a class="xref" href="svn.basic.html" title="Chapter 1. Fundamental Concepts">Chapter 1, <em>Fundamental Concepts</em></a> is a vital introduction to the
ideas behind version control. <a class="xref" href="svn.tour.html" title="Chapter 2. Basic Usage">Chapter 2, <em>Basic Usage</em></a>
is a guided tour of the Subversion client.</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<span class="term">Advanced users</span>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>Whether you're a user or administrator, eventually
your project will grow larger. You're going to want to
learn how to do more advanced things with Subversion, such
as how to use Subversion's property support
(<a class="xref" href="svn.advanced.html" title="Chapter 3. Advanced Topics">Chapter 3, <em>Advanced Topics</em></a>), how to use branches and
perform merges (<a class="xref" href="svn.branchmerge.html" title="Chapter 4. Branching and Merging">Chapter 4, <em>Branching and Merging</em></a>), how to
configure runtime options
(<a class="xref" href="svn.customization.html" title="Chapter 7. Customizing Your Subversion Experience">Chapter 7, <em>Customizing Your Subversion Experience</em></a>), and other things.
These chapters aren't critical at first, but be sure to
read them once you're comfortable with the basics.</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<span class="term">Developers</span>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>Presumably, you're already familiar with Subversion,
and now want to either extend it or build new software on
top of its many APIs. <a class="xref" href="svn.developer.html" title="Chapter 8. Embedding Subversion">Chapter 8, <em>Embedding Subversion</em></a> is
just for you.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</div>
<p>The book ends with reference material—<a class="xref" href="svn.ref.html" title="Part II. Subversion Command Reference">Part II, “Subversion Command Reference”</a> is a reference guide for all Subversion
commands, and the appendixes cover a number of useful topics.
These are the chapters you're most likely to come back to
after you've finished the book.</p>
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<p>You are reading <em>Version Control with Subversion</em> (for
Subversion 1.8), by Ben Collins-Sussman, Brian W. Fitzpatrick,
and C. Michael Pilato.</p>
<p>This work is licensed under
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<p>To submit comments, corrections, or other contributions to the
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