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My old boss told me to skip learning version control until I 'got good'
He said Git was for bigger projects and I should just save copies of my files with different names. A year later, I lost two days of work on a simple website because I couldn't figure out which 'project_final_v3_new' folder had the right code. I had to redo the whole contact form from memory. Has anyone else had a project go wrong because they put off learning the basics?
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anthony76315d ago
Used to think version control was overkill for small jobs. Then I lost a whole client's wiring diagram because I saved over the only file. Spent a weekend redrawing it from photos. Now I use it for everything, even my grocery list.
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butler.laura15d ago
That advice is like telling someone not to learn to tie their shoes until they become a marathon runner. My first internship had me manually merging code changes between three people by hand, copying and pasting blocks from different text files into a master document. It was a total mess, and we spent more time arguing over whose change broke the login page than actually fixing it. The lead dev finally showed us how to use a basic branching model, and it felt like magic. Suddenly we weren't scared to try things because you could just go back.
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nancy_wood15d ago
Yeah, the "copying and pasting blocks from different text files" part is a nightmare. I read a blog post once that called doing version control by hand "playing with fire in a paper factory." @butler.laura is totally right, that basic branching model is like learning the safety rules before you even pick up the tools. It stops the whole team from wasting days on blame and fixes.
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