Have you ever made a mistake in your code and wished you could go back to a previous version? Or maybe you want to compare different versions of your code to see how they perform or what changes you made. In this article, you will learn how to revert to a previous version of code using version control systems, which are tools that help you track and manage changes in your code over time.
Version control systems (VCS) are software that allow you to save snapshots of your code at different points in time, called commits. Each commit has a unique identifier, a message describing what you did, and a link to the previous commit. You can use VCS to create branches, which are separate copies of your code that you can work on independently, and merge them back to the main branch when you are done. VCS also help you resolve conflicts, which are situations where two or more versions of the same code have different changes that need to be reconciled.
Version control systems are like magic for programmers. They're like a time machine for our code, letting we go back in time to see what our project looked like at different points. And the coolest part? We can create parallel universes of the code, called branches, and experiment without messing up the main code. It's like having a playground for coding ideas! But sometimes, these branches collide, and that's where conflicts come in. They're like puzzles to solve, making sure our changes play nice with others'. It like being the peacemaker in the code world
Using VCS can offer many advantages to programmers, such as the ability to undo mistakes and restore code to a previous state, review code history, collaborate with other programmers, experiment with new features or ideas without impacting the main code, and improve code quality and security by testing and reviewing it before deployment.
I totally agree with this! Version control systems are like a safety net for programmers. They allow to step back in time when make a mistake or want to see how our code evolved. It's like having a time machine for our code! Plus, they're fantastic for teamwork. We can collaborate with others, review each other's work, and even try out wild ideas without messing up the main code. And let's not forget about quality control. VCS helps review our code thoroughly before it goes live, keeping our project rock-solid.
There is nothing worse than losing all the progress on a project you have been working on for weeks. This has happened to me on multiple occasions where I either drifted away from a working code or lost it all because of technical reasons. This is why it's highly recommended to use VCS even when working on personal and experimental projects. Using VCS allows you to keep different versions of the projects, go back in time if needed or continue working on a different machine in the worst scenario.
When choosing a version control system (VCS), there are several factors to consider, such as the size and complexity of your project, the size and workflow of your team, and your own preferences and skills. Popular VCS include Git, Subversion, and Mercurial, all of which differ in how they store and manage code, handle conflicts, and integrate with other tools. Depending on the project, some VCS may be more suitable for large or distributed projects than others; some may be more flexible or collaborative than others; and some may be easier to learn or use than others.
You don't really choose a VCS yourself when working in a company / on an established project. For personal projects just go with the one that is most familiar to you and if you are a newbie just choose Git since it's has been the most widely used in the past decade or more.
Git is one of the most popular VCS, especially in web development. It is a distributed VCS, where every programmer has a local copy of the code repository on their machine and can synchronize it with a remote repository on a server or platform such as GitHub or Bitbucket. To return to a previous version of the code using Git, you need to take the following steps: identify the commit you want to revert to using the git log command to view the list of commits and their identifiers, or use git show to see the details of a specific commit. Then, use git checkout with the commit identifier to switch to that version of code. This will create a detached HEAD state, which means that any changes you make won't be saved unless you create a new branch or commit. Create either a new branch or commit from the checked out commit using git branch or git commit . Finally, merge the new branch or commit into the main branch with git merge , or use git revert to create a new commit that undoes the changes in the commit you want to revert. This will update the main branch with the reverted version of code.
Subversion is a popular VCS, especially for enterprise projects. It is a centralized system, meaning that there is a single repository on a server that stores all the code, while each programmer has a working copy of the code on their machine. To use Subversion to revert to a previous version of code, you must first identify the revision you want to revert to. You can use the svn log command to view the list of revisions and their numbers, or the svn diff command to compare two revisions. Afterward, you can use the svn checkout command with the revision number to create a new working copy of that version of code, which will overwrite your current working copy with the reverted version. Finally, you can use the svn commit command to send the reverted version of code to the server and update the repository, creating a new revision with the reverted version of code.
If you want to use Mercurial to revert to a previous version of code, you need to identify the changeset you want to revert to. You can do this by using the hg log or hg diff command. Then, you can update to the changeset by using the hg update command with the changeset identifier. This will create a clean working directory with the reverted version of code. To commit this reverted version of code, use the hg commit command and create a new changeset with it. Finally, you can merge the new head to the default branch by using either the hg merge or hg backout command. This will update the default branch with the reverted version of code.