Broscom

Git for version control

2009-11-30T14:45:20Z

I've been using Git for version control on a project I'm working on and I am hooked. Git is a distributed version control system which means that instead of having just a working copy of files, each collaborator has a full-fledged repository. This is one of the things I like most about git compared with cvs and subversion - everything is local, which means everything is fast. Since you have a complete repository, things like viewing logs, diffs and commits don't need to go across the network. You can even work offline.

Git certainly has some useful features. One cool thing you can do with Git is to commit 'hunks' of files, or just specific changes within a file. Let's say you are working on a file and you make three different changes - two of the changes are debugging code and the other change is actual code you want to keep. Git allows you easily commit just the one code change and ignore the other two. Neat huh?

Perhaps my favorite feature so far is 'git bisect'. This tool makes it incredibly easy to find which commit introduced a specific bug. On a big project this can be a real time saver. Here's how it works. Let's say you have a bug in your current working copy. You tell Git that your working copy is 'bad' and give it any previous commit, tag or date that was 'good' (i.e. no bug). Git will then update your working copy to whatever commit is halfway between the two. (thus the name 'bisect'). Then you check for the bug and tell Git if it still exists or not. This process continues with you just telling Git 'good' or 'bad'. Git will determine for you the exact commit that introduced the bug in the fewest steps possible.

Check out the Git website at git-scm.com to download Git and learn more. Scott Chacon maintains the site and also gave the webcast below. Unfortunately the audio is poor, but if you can deal with it, the content is a great intro to using Git.

New perl.org Website

2009-11-18T16:43:51Z

Perl.org has a new website design thanks to Ranguard. From his post at use.perl.org:

"Well, it's taken me 6 weeks of evenings and the odd weekend, but I'm proud to say the new http://www.perl.org/ site has just gone live.

This is a complete redesign and content review. Hopefully it's cleaner and easier for people to actually get the information they are after."

Visit perl.org

Mac OS X Tip: Secret Screen Capture Shortcut

2009-11-18T15:51:49Z

From the Mac OS X Pro Tips page, handy shortcuts for screen shots and screen captures:

"Okay, you probably already know the ol' Command-Shift-3 shortcut for taking a screen capture of your entire screen, and you may even know about Command-Shift-4, which gives you a crosshair cursor so you can choose which area of the screen you want to capture. But perhaps the coolest, most-secret hidden capture shortcut is Control-Command-Shift-3 (or 4), which, instead of creating a file on your desktop, copies the capture into your Clipboard memory, so you can paste it where you want. (I use this to paste screen captures right into Photoshop.)"

More Mac Pro Tips

New iPhone 3GS

2009-08-04T22:57:09Z

Quick review of the new iPhone 3GS - New in June '09, the iPhone 3GS is by far the nicest phone I have ever used. I can now see what all the fuss is about. I bought one recently and I'm very impressed with it's performance and the user experience in general. Here's a few things I really like about it.

Call clarity and signal strength is excellent, far superior to my Blackberry.
Speed and performance - very zippy.
I can use Skype to make free calls! :-)
The camera actually takes good photos!
Syncing with my computer (email, contacts, photos, etc.) is truly a snap.
It's very intuitive and easy to use... and it's fun!
Excellent introduction video from Apple here.

Just finished setting up Movable Type.

2009-08-01T15:00:49Z

As they say on Slashdot - 'First Post!'