Hello. I am working with another colleague in C# in VS2005 in a not very complex project. However, we have no version control system, we send each other our last version and copy the changes into our own files.
We now have to merge both files (most of the project is a single form file) into a last version of the project.
Any suggestions? Maybe trying diff tools? It must be done quickly and probably learning how to use complex revision control programs is not doable.
Thank you.
Try SourceGear DiffMerge. Some members of my team even use it instead of the standard compare/merge tool from Visual Studio.
I'll spare you the lecture on not using version control, but your best bet is to try and use a differencing tool like WinMerge to compare the differences of the 2 files and manually merge the changes that each of you has made into a single file.
If you have the common file that you both started with before you each made any changes, then you can use a 3-way merge feature of WinMerge to generate a file that has both of your changes in it.
I think WinMerge is great for diffing and merging files.
However, I would definitely recommend that you get yourself some kind of source control system. CVS, Subversion, Git, Mercurial, whatever!!! It doesn't really matter which you choose, just get one. You will almost immediately get return on that investment in time, and you will also learn about something that is crucial in all serious software development.
We use BeyondCompare - we have found that to be an excellent compare and merge tool.
I understand the need for speed to produce your final version of the code now.
However, if you are planning to start another project it really is worth investing the time to set up a source control system. You'll save that time in spades over the course of the project!