Question about SourceSafe and a Code Repository Program... 2

[pzmgmb]

I was just wondering what the tek-tips users opinion was about programs such as SourceSafe. I have a project coming up that might involve more than just myself working on the same project. I didnt know if Microsoft SourceSafe was the best way to go in .NET, or if anybody had any better suggestions.

I was also wondering if anybody has any suggestions regarding a code repository program. A program of sorts where programmers can drop snippets of code that are used frequently and share them with other users. Kind of a way to set a standard for doing certain things.

I know the tek-tips group wont let me down!

 

[Korach]

Source safe is good but old and have some bugs. Sometimes it costs some hours to fix it's damages. If you find something newer and you have the money for it, it's better.

 

[pzmgmb]

Thanks korach. Any suggestions on alternatives?

 

[chiph]

Another vote against SourceSafe (source un-safe is more like it!). Besides it's unreliability, it won't let you do some of the tasks that you need to in order to deliver good quality software in a team environment.

At home I use SourceGear Vault (free for single user). At work, we use Borland StarTeam. Other good SCCS systems are Subversion, Perforce (free for two clients), and CVS (free, and showing it's age, but still very popular in the Unix world).

A good comparison is at:

http://better-scm.berlios.de/comparison/comparison.html

You'll also want to buy a copy of:
Software Configuration Management Patterns: Effective Teamwork, Practical Integration
ISBN: 0201741172

The book will tell you how to make effective use of your shiny new version control system.

Chip H.

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[ThatRickGuy]

One vote for Source Safe. I have used it at multiple sites on many projects and have only had 2 issues with it.

1) If you have multiple developers in Virtual Machines, ensure that the VMs have different MAC addresses, or are set to bridge the real NIC. Having multiple identical MAC addresses will decimate a source safe database.

2) This is actually a quirk in .Net, but I noticed it through Source Safe. If you have 2 projects (A and B) in a solution and A has a project reference to B. And another solution in which he has A, B and C, C having a reference to A and B. The references can get all sorts of fubared. This problem is pretty rare while working by yourself, but when you have multiple people and multiple projects/solution, this can become a huge issue. The best solution I've found to avoid this is to have everyone use the exact same file structure (ie: c:\development\project name\bin) for the output of any project. Then set the references to the .dll files. Again, I don't think this is directly VSS's fault, but it is something I've run into w/ .Net in multiple developer situations.

Other then those little quirks, it does everything I've ever needed it to do.

-Rick

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