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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>How to Read this Book</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css" type="text/css" /><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.73.2" /><link rel="start" href="index.html" title="Version Control with Subversion" /><link rel="up" href="svn.preface.html" title="Preface" /><link rel="prev" href="svn.preface.audience.html" title="Audience" /><link rel="next" href="svn.preface.conventions.html" title="Conventions Used in This Book" /></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">How to Read this Book</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="svn.preface.audience.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">Preface</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="svn.preface.conventions.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr /></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="svn.preface.howread"></a>How to Read this Book</h2></div></div></div><p>Technical books always face a certain dilemma: whether to
cater to <em class="firstterm">top-down</em>
or <em class="firstterm">bottom-up</em> learners. A top-down
learner prefers to read or skim documentation, getting a large
overview of how the system works; only then does she actually
start using the software. A bottom-learner is a “<span class="quote">learn by
doing</span>” person, someone who just wants to dive into the
software and figure it out as she goes, referring to book
sections when necessary. Most books tend to be written for one
type of person or the other, and this book is undoubtedly biased
towards top-down learners. (And if you're actually reading this
section, you're probably already a top-down learner yourself!)
However, if you're a bottom-up person, don't despair. While the
book may be laid out as a broad survey of Subversion topics, the
contents of each section tends to be heavy with specific
examples that you can try-by-doing. For the impatient folks who
just want to get going, you can jump right to
<a class="xref" href="svn.intro.html" title="Appendix A. Subversion Quick-Start Guide">Appendix A, <i>Subversion Quick-Start Guide</i></a>.</p><p>Regardless of your learning style, this book aims to be
useful to people of widely different backgrounds—from
people with no previous experience in version control to
experienced system administrators. Depending on your own
background, certain chapters may be more or less important to
you. The following can be considered a
“<span class="quote">recommended reading list</span>” for various types of
readers:</p><div class="variablelist"><dl><dt><span class="term">Experienced System Administrators</span></dt><dd><p>The assumption here is that you've probably used
version control before before, and are dying to get a
Subversion server up and running ASAP.
<a class="xref" href="svn.reposadmin.html" title="Chapter 5. Repository Administration">Chapter 5, <i>Repository Administration</i></a> and
<a class="xref" href="svn.serverconfig.html" title="Chapter 6. Server Configuration">Chapter 6, <i>Server Configuration</i></a> will show you how to
create your first repository and make it available over
the network. After that's done,
<a class="xref" href="svn.tour.html" title="Chapter 2. Basic Usage">Chapter 2, <i>Basic Usage</i></a> and
<a class="xref" href="svn.forcvs.html" title="Appendix B. Subversion for CVS Users">Appendix B, <i>Subversion for CVS Users</i></a> are the fastest routes to
learning the Subversion client.</p></dd><dt><span class="term">New users</span></dt><dd><p>Your administrator has probably set up Subversion
already, and you need to learn how to use the client. If
you've never used a version control system, then
<a class="xref" href="svn.basic.html" title="Chapter 1. Fundamental Concepts">Chapter 1, <i>Fundamental Concepts</i></a> is a vital introduction to the
ideas behind version control. <a class="xref" href="svn.tour.html" title="Chapter 2. Basic Usage">Chapter 2, <i>Basic Usage</i></a>
is a guided tour of the Subversion client.</p></dd><dt><span class="term">Advanced users</span></dt><dd><p>Whether you're a user or administrator, eventually
your project will grow larger. You're going to want to
learn how to do more advanced things with Subversion, such
as how to use branches and perform merges (<a class="xref" href="svn.branchmerge.html" title="Chapter 4. Branching and Merging">Chapter 4, <i>Branching and Merging</i></a>), how to use Subversion's
property support (<a class="xref" href="svn.advanced.html" title="Chapter 3. Advanced Topics">Chapter 3, <i>Advanced Topics</i></a>), how to
configure runtime options (<a class="xref" href="svn.customization.html" title="Chapter 7. Customizing Your Subversion Experience">Chapter 7, <i>Customizing Your Subversion Experience</i></a>), and other things. These
chapters aren't critical at first, but be sure to read
them once you're comfortable with the basics.</p></dd><dt><span class="term">Developers</span></dt><dd><p>Presumably, you're already familiar with Subversion,
and now want to either extend it or build new software on
top of its many APIs. <a class="xref" href="svn.developer.html" title="Chapter 8. Embedding Subversion">Chapter 8, <i>Embedding Subversion</i></a> is
just for you.</p></dd></dl></div><p>The book ends with reference material—<a class="xref" href="svn.ref.html" title="Chapter 9. Subversion Complete Reference">Chapter 9, <i>Subversion Complete Reference</i></a> is a reference guide for all Subversion
commands, and the appendices cover a number of useful topics.
These are the chapters you're mostly likely to come back to
after you've finished the book.</p></div><div class="navfooter"><hr /><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="svn.preface.audience.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="svn.preface.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="svn.preface.conventions.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">Audience </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> Conventions Used in This Book</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
