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I am working on a Java project together with a collaborator, and we are both using the Eclipse editor. What I want to do is to be able to share the .java files with him so that we can both edit it separately but see what has the other has written. Currently, I am doing this is an ad-hoc way by sharing a Dropbox folder that contains the project. However, this approach does not work well because he is using a different version of Java (as he runs a Mac while I am using Windows). For me to run the project, I would have to clear all the .class files that he has created which will appear on my computer since Dropbox just shares all the files.

I have heard of CVS as a way to manage file sharing among developers, but it sounds like a lot of work. I don't know for example how to get a CVS server or what to do to get it to work. Is there an easy and straightforward way to enable us to work together on the same Java project? Is GitHub the answer?

I Like to Code
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6 Answers6

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This is definitely the job of source control, as other answers have mentioned, Git or SVN are probably your best choices. Git is the newer one and is gaining a ton of popularity (probably thanks to GitHub).

GitHub is pretty easy to learn and can even take care of a lot of the more difficult tasks for you with their new GitHub for Windows client. They also have a GitHub for Mac client. Once you are more familiar with the tool you can get the EGit plugin for eclipse so you can control the source control directly from your IDE.

Additionally, GitHub created an online interactive tutorial for learning git.

As for clearing out class files (and also your .settings and .project and .classpath files from eclipse), you can instruct git to ignore these types of files using a .gitignore file. You can find templates for various languages (including Java) here.

Talon876
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  • Can you have private, shared repositories on GitHub? If not, that might not be appropriate for the asker. You can on BitBucket, and that supports Git now. – Tom Anderson Jul 16 '12 at 18:51
  • You can get the $7/month micro plan which allows for private repositories. I would suggest using GitHub to become familiar with Git and the workflow that goes along with it, then make an account on BitBucket for private repos. – Talon876 Jul 16 '12 at 19:05
  • Why is GitHub better than Bitbucket for becoming familiar with git? As i said, Bitbucket supports Git. The repositories they provide behave identically, and the sites' UIs are pretty similar, except that one has more octopuses and one has more buckets. – Tom Anderson Jul 16 '12 at 19:15
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you could spent the time to learn git at: https://help.github.com/articles/set-up-git

it's a very valuable tool and once you get used to it it will be very easy to share code.

tom
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Or better yet, Mercurial. It follows the same approach as Git, but is way simpler and works without hassle. To start a repository within the current directory, just run:

hg init

Have a look at the documentation for more information.

Vadim Kotov
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Christian Schlichtherle
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  • As someone with experience of both, i can confirm that Mercurial is basically a better Git. Of particular relevance here, it is friendlier for beginners - there isn't the mostly unnecessary 'index' that Git has, revisions have sequential numbers, and commands need funky flags far less often. – Tom Anderson Jul 16 '12 at 18:54
  • A good resource for beginners is [hg init](http://hginit.com/), which as well as being the command to create a repository is the title of a good tutorial (written by Joel Spolsky, co-founder of StackOverflow, as it happens). – Tom Anderson Jul 16 '12 at 18:55
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I recommend "Subversion" Google it and look at the information. You can easily check out files and check in. I wish you luck.

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Depending on what your future plans are the Git or Subversion would be fine. I finally made the switch to Git after years of using SVN.

Note that in addition to Github (which is great) there are also some other repository hosting services, some of which offer free "personal" accounts (most make your code public, but I think a few still give you a limited amount of space for free).

Robert
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CVS is getting old and people are moving out of it to other source code control tools

The most famous tools are SVN and Git. There are other tools but less famous I believe You definitly need a software revivision tool if you are going to work in a team(or even alone for that matters), as it marks the changes that have been made, when and by whom, etc... google code for example offers an easy way to setup your svn repository in one minute. there are also alot of companies offers such a service online for free or for small money, depending on your need. So if you just need a sandbox, then setup a svn on google code and try it out

a code revision tool is almost a must for every programmer

good luck

Moataz Elmasry
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