[Info-vax] Programming languages on VMS

[Johnny Billquist]

On 2018-02-09 13:10, hb wrote:
> On 02/09/2018 12:06 PM, Johnny Billquist wrote:
>> First of all, having the file versions are much more lightweight when
>> you want to go back and check something from a previous version, than to
>> go through the backup system and restore a previous version, not to
>> mention the simple ability of being able to compare them side to side
>> without having to start doing renames or other tricks so that the
>> restored version from the backup don't actually overwrite the current
>> version with the same name.
>>
>> Second, I'm not aware of any backup system that does a snapshot at every
>> file close. The closest to what you describe that I know of is the Time
>> Machine from Apple. But that only takes a snapshot every hour. I can
>> create many versions in one hour when I'm developing code.
>>
>> And there is still that issue of having to go into the time machine
>> interface and restore if I want to get an older version back, and of
>> course the name collision if I also want to retain the current version,
>> and maybe also want to make comparisons or checks against 7 other recent
>> versions in short order.
>>
>> But hey, I certainly do recognize that I'm not a typical user, and my
>> patterns are probably both odd and archaic. I don't really believe in
>> IDEs either, but I do believe in version control systems. But I do not
>> consider version control systems to really overlap my use of file
>> versions either.
> 
> IDEs like Eclipse have a local history, besides a plugin for the version
> control system of your choice. The local file versions are identified by
> the time, when the source was saved, not by a number. You can do
> compares within the IDE, local history and/or any revision in your
> version control system. Just a few mouse clicks. If you want, you can
> merge the code from the compare window/view, difference by difference
> with another mouse click. Fits me.

Which just tells me that others also find similar usercases to mine, but 
since the IDEs are designed for systems that don't have file versions, 
they instead have to implement the same thing locally inside the IDE to 
accomplish the same thing.

Obviously then, more people don't consider backups or version control 
systems to provide the same capability or cover the same use case that 
the file versions do.

Isn't it good to be on a system where this need was covered already at 
the OS, and not becomes a specific functionality located just inside 
each tool?

   Johnny

-- 
Johnny Billquist                  || "I'm on a bus
                                   ||  on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt at softjar.se             ||  Reading murder books
pdp is alive!                     ||  tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol