The Arguments Against Source Control

I keep hearing the same arguments against using source control. I would like to briefly discuss the most common ones.

Argument 1: Its a hassle to setup

Yes source control does take a little work to setup especially if you are not familiar with how its works. However if you compare the time required setup a source control to the time lost when trying to track recent changes or restore application code that has been overwritten by accident then it quickly becomes obvious that the initial time investment in configuring it will be saved time and again in the future.

If you dont have the skills or the time required to setup your own source control service then you can also rent a hosted solution instead. This takes away the hassle of trying to do it yourself (or getting your IT department to ok the service and install it this side of the next ice age).

Myself I use a company named Codesion who have recently been aquired by CollabNet the founder and corporate sponsors of the Subversion project. They offer a lot of good services at a reasonable price. Yes its will cost a bit more than doing it yourself but its quick and easy.

Argument 2: Its difficult to use

Every source control system does have a learning curve to using it and its own quirks. I myself have had a few problems with subversion when I was first learning it. However the benefits have outweighed the problems so much that now I dont even remember what the problems were.

A part of this argument that I have heard is that "our IDE doesnt work with source control". I can only describe this argument as a total cop out. Every good IDE has some source control function. Even Dreamweaver an IDE which I personally hate has had source control functions built in since CS3. If you really do use an IDE that does not have source control support then my advise is get a real IDE. I use eclipse which is 100% free and is probably the most customizable IDE available.

Argument 3: Its easier to just work on the production code

This argument is very common for developers of web based applications and more than any other argument I hear, this one makes me see red!

Yes it does take time and effort to setup a development environment and configure it with source control etc. The simple fact of the matter though is this, if you think its ok to develop on a live production system then you are not someone I would want working on my systems.

Its one thing to say that you cannot build a development system because of company politics or lack of resources or time, but if you have the resources and no obstacles to contend with then its simply not excusable to develop on a live production system.

On my next article on source control I will outline two basic source control configurations.