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Ask Slashdot: Explaining Version Control To Non-Technical People?
New submitter billius writes "I was recently hired (along with another guy) as a web developer at a large university. Our job is to build tools to support the social science researchers on our team. When I got here the codebase was an unholy mess: the formatting was terrible, there were .bak files scattered everywhere and there was no version control system in place. We quickly went to work cleaning things up and implementing new features. My boss was so pleased with our work that she took us out to lunch. During lunch, she asked us if there were any additional tools we needed to do our job more efficiently. We both told her that version control was an invaluable tool for any kind of software development, but had a difficult time describing to her what exactly version control was. I attempted to explain that it created a log of all the changes made to the code and allowed us to make sure that multiple developers working on the same project would not step on each other's toes. I don't think we really got through to her and a few weeks passed with us hearing nothing. Today we were asked by another supervisor if we needed any additional tools and we went through the same spiel about version control. She suggested that we try to write up a brief description of what we wanted and how much it would cost, but I'm drawing a blank an how exactly to describe version control to a person who isn't very technical, let alone a developer. Does anyone out there have any tips on how to sell version control to management?"
She suggested that we try to write up a brief description of what we wanted and how much it would cost ...
I don't understand why this story is tagged with git and svn then asks how much it will cost. Check out Gitstack, roll your own git on Linux, or any of a million ways to do svn or cvs ... I mean, every version control system I've used in the past ten years has been free. I mean, if you're talking about ... what, SourceSafe? Is there some crappy IBM like ClearCase thing? You think you need to pay for an online service? I don't think you need to move this off your own personal servers unless you want it open sourced. What features are the tagged version control systems missing that you need to request funds for?
Here's how I explain version control to non-techies: "Remember that time you had to work on a group project and you started writing a word document in MS Office and then you passed it out to the group while you still worked on it and then you got four more versions back with corrections and updates and you just started cursing out your computer? Yeah. Believe it or not, they fixed that problem for software a very long time ago and it's dirt cheap. In fact, if developers follow simple rules, those versioning nightmares you had with your group's powerpoint and other Microsoft files never happens."
People have dealt with this problem in other realms for a long time so you just need to find something to relate it to that they've experienced and it'll start clicking much faster. Failing that, wikipedia has visuals.
My work here is dung.
You could say it's like Mac OS' Time Machine, where files are backed up and can be pulled up from the past. Then say it's like each user can work on their own copy in time and put the files together in the future.
Or you could just ask for server space and stick the repo in a central location.
First, you should've added a 'Mercurial' tag. :-)
Explain what it will do for them. For example...
So, let's say we're working on the website and the code behind it. We push out some new code one day, and a few days later, after we've already started working on a bunch of other stuff, someone reports a bug. One of the form fields isn't validating correctly.
But, we've been working on that form already. We can't really tell if the bug is still there, or if maybe it was something that was wrong that got moved around. We also can't tell how the bug got there in the first place. That's because we don't know what the old code looked like exactly anymore.
But, suppose we had a version control system.... Then, when we push new code out to the site, we know exactly which version we push. When someone reports a problem, we can easily go back to that version in a testing environment to find the problem for ourselves and figure out exactly what's causing it. And then, once we've determined the cause, we can analyze the history (because we've been keeping a history of everything we do) to figure out how the problem got there in the first place so we can do better next time.
There you've explained how it helps you. You no longer need them to understand what it is exactly. You've just explained why it would be good for them to get it for you, and that's all they really care about anyway. They don't want to understand what it is. Understanding stuff like that is why they hired you in the first place.
Need a Python, C++, Unix, Linux develop
I will quote from Stack Overflow (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1408450/why-should-i-use-version-control):
Have you ever:
Made a change to code, realised it was a mistake and wanted to go back?
Lost code or had a backup that was too old?
Had to maintain multiple versions of a product?
Wanted to see the difference between two (or more) versions of your code?
Wanted to prove that a particular change broke or fixed some piece of code?
Wanted to submit a change (patch) to someone else's code?
Wanted to see how much work is being done (where/when/who)?
Wanted to experiment with a new feature without interfering with working code?
In all these cases a version control systems should make your life easier.
Get his attention with this:
"Would you run a business without a ledger?
We've been running our software development like that and it's high time we started doing it right."
Now that you have his attention, you can sell him on the particular version-control-system you want and, if necessary, explain the other good things a VCS can do, like provide legal accountability of which employee checked in what, forking off maintenance releases, and more.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Why are you explaining and asking permission to use a tool? Download git, install it, use it, done. Standard practice, free, so what's the issue? Just do it. The management doesn't want to see how the sausage is made.
Also, there is a "manage your management" issue here. When the bosses ask if you need anything, you need to provide answers that they understand and can accomplish. Asking for something they don't understand and don't know how to get for you leads to them feeling stupid and ineffective. Line up your own tools without bothering them. When they ask what you need be ready with something that they can easily accomplish, like stocking the fridge with Mt. Dew.
Light cup, beer drink, thin so chain, neck turtle fat, man I won't say it again
Very much this. Trying to give a technical reason to a non-technical person who doesn't understand the benefit is futile. Take a lesson from Apple. They explain technical benefits in a 'what it will do for you' way.
Give a scenario where the lack of version control does something suitably bad, and then explain what it does when properly implemented.
One caveat. Keep the benefit a bit more watered down than above. When dealing with management, keep it simple, and meaningful to them, not to you. Talking about validating a form field or whatnot isn't a good way to go about it. Talk about the lost time and productivity, potential impact while troubleshooting and finding root cause, etc.
Version Control for code is exactly like accounting software for money. Without accounting, your business would fail as it becomes more complex. Eventually, without version control, the process of building software will fail as development becomes more complex.
-- Mike
She thought enough of your work to take you to lunch? I think you have to declare that. I've been doing version control for years and never even got a Twinkie.
I hate being bipolar; it's awesome!
Management
Mod the parent up, this is the first non-techie analogy that makes sense to anyone with any accounting or business background.
The "ledger" idea is the elevator speech you can give to the pencil-pushers. It's one thing to know what the bottom line on a balance sheet is, it's another thing to know how the numbers got there. Multiple sources of changes (Payables, Receivables, Sales, Petty Cash, etc...), in multiple directions (debits/credits), in multiple categories (Assets, Liabilities, Equity) . You'd be foolish to run a business without a general ledger. Source control is the ledger for the software.
Get off my lawn.
Cost is *not* the issue. You don't just "put the website under version control" that's a command in a free to download, free to use software package called [ git | svn | cvs ]. Source Control is *not* a tool. It's a technique. You don't need supervisor permission to backup your files, and you don't need supervisor permission to use source control. What you need to do is start using it, and ensure that everyone *else* who contributes uses it, too. That's a policy detail and needs someone to enforce it.
The selling point of source control is that it is more than just a backup - it allows you to track changes to the site and more importantly *who* made *what* changes and *when* and *why*. Otherwise you don't know if changes are made, who made them, when they made them, or why they were made. One would think that *social scientists* would be able to appreciate knowledge of history without any notion of "cost"!
Aaaaand you've now convinced your manager that version control has something to do with cooking eggs.