Comparing Version Control Systems: Subversion (SVN), Mercurial (hg), and Git

Distributed version control systems like Git and Mercurial (hg) are becoming the rage, while established version control systems such as Subversion (SVN), Team Foundation Server (TFS), SourceGear Vault, CVS, and Visual Source Safe have been working just fine for years. Let's compare and contrast our knowledge of traditional version control systems using SVN as an example with both Mercurial (hg) and Git. Let's look for strengths and weaknesses in each of these in terms of features, methodologies, strategies, tools, hosting platforms, and online cultures. Through discussion and discovery, we'll gain a much broader view of the capabilities and shortcomings of each tool, and have a much better feel for the features one might value when choosing a VCS.