Workflow incorporating Subversion, FTP, Editor

Question

Currently I am working on a project that involves the following daily workflow:

1. Update local code and edit
2. commit to subversion repository
3. ftp to a testing server

I have been using Netbeans to handle all of this but frankly it, combined with the other stuff I am running, eats up all of my machine's resources frequently leaving it sluggish. By switching to a lighter text editor, a standalone ftp client and a standalone svn client I avoid the slowdowns and resource hogging but working becomes clunkier as I move between apps. Basically I really like Netbeans but until I can get a more powerful machine (Macbook Pro next week?) I am stuck.

What is your workflow? Any suggestions on how I can improve mine? Can I cut out FTP with Subversion in some way?

p.s. Subversion use is cast in stone so no git. Also, I'm on a Mac.

Answer 1

Hi,

maybe install svn on the testing machine and do an update automatically every ten minutes or so. Or at a specific time.

Just an idea.

Sascha

Answer 2

On Mac, I use TextMate as my editor of choice. Lots of language goodies for speeding development in whatever language you're doing via Bundles. It has an SVN bundle, which lets you update/checkout/commit directly. I use that for quick updates/checkouts. On my test server, I have another SVN working directory. I set up an SVN Post Commit hook to 1) automatically update the test server with the latest code, and then 2) send a twitter message to inform other developers of the change.

If I want to do more in depth work on the SVN repository (tags, commit logs, diffs) I tend to use the command line, or use a dedicated client like Cornerstone.

Eclipse is an IDE, which also includes syncing with version control, and FTP.

Answer 3

Almost all the programming editors (Vim, Emacs, etc) support subversion integration.

The only missing link is the FTP to test server. You can do this easily with a post-commit hook in subversion.

If you want to run some pre-commit tests as well, check out this script I had written some time back: http://code.google.com/p/svn-pre-check/