# Version control

Concept · [Technical basics](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/technical)

Also called: source control, revision control, version history

A system that records every change to the code, who made it and when. It lets several people work at once and lets you go back to an earlier version when something breaks.

**For example:** Yesterday's change broke the signup page. With version control, the team sees exactly what changed and restores the working version in minutes.

## Connects to (13)

- [Repository](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/repository): The folder where a project's code lives, together with the full history of every change made to it.
- [Deployment](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/deployment): Putting the latest version of your app onto the live servers where real users can reach it.
- [Bug](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/bug): A mistake in software that makes it behave in a way nobody intended.
- [Git](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/git): The free, open source version control program that almost every software team uses.
- [Commit](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/commit): One saved change in version control: a snapshot of the code with a short note saying what changed, who made it and when.
- [Branch](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/branch): A separate line of work inside a repository.
- [Pull request](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/pull-request): A request to merge the changes on one branch into the main code.
- [Terminal](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/terminal): A text window where a person types commands to a computer and reads its replies.
- [GitHub](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/github): A website where developers store code repositories, review each other's changes and work on software together.
- [Automated review](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/automated-review): Having an AI model read and critique work, usually code, before a person does.
- [Human review](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/human-review): A person reading and approving what an agent produced before it goes live.
- [GitLab](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/gitlab): A platform for hosting code repositories, reviewing changes and running automatic builds.
- [Merge conflict](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/merge-conflict): What happens when two branches change the same lines of code in different ways, so version control cannot combine them on its own.

Map view: https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/version-control