Rating: 
Summary: Good book if you're a CVS user...
Review: If you're looking for a low-cost entry into the world of version control software, the open source CVS package is a very logical choice. But like most open source packages, the documentation is less than perfect if you want something more than just a reference manual for learning purposes. It's at this point you need a book that explains a bit more about the why's of what you need to do. This book fills that gap nicely. The target audience is both users and administrators of the system. Vesperman starts out with an explanation of what version management and source control systems are, and then goes into the usage of CVS for those different groups. And if you are thinking that CVS is just for managing code, think again. CVS can be used to manage any document types, such as code, documentation, images, etc. If you're using Websphere Application Development Studio (WSAD), the CVS package has an interface built right in. You select that option during WSAD installation, and the right perspectives are added to your environment. You will still need to have a CVS server set up somewhere to manage the source files, and this book will be very helpful in aiding you during that process. Since CVS is based on the Unix platform, all the examples in the book are set up to use command line interfaces to the functions. Vesperman uses plenty of scripts to show you how to accomplish all the functions, which is great. In my case, I'll be using WSAD to work with CVS as a developer, so many of those examples were wasted on me. Still, the concepts behind CVS and the general capabilities of the package are covered well, so a read-through on this book will benefit you either way. For Notes/Domino developers, there is no interface you can use for this package. You could, if you wanted, check in your .NSF files and use CVS to manage the version control. You'd lose some of the benefits of CVS like file comparison, but it's still better than having no version control at all. There are non-CVS systems out there for Notes/Domino content management, and you would probably derive more benefit from those packages than trying to use CVS in this case. Conclusion
If you are moving into the WSAD world for Java development, check out CVS for version management. If you do decide to go with CVS, get a copy of this book to supplement the official documentation. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Broad detailed coverage of CVS for beginner and intermediate
Review: The broad coverage of the many features of CVS is excellent. Many subjects are covered in the right amount of detail without getting bogged down in the technical. As a CVS beginner the book is just right. Not being a more advanced user I can't comment further on the previous reviewers comments. But I believe that the aspiring CVS admin will find the book very helpful, touching on topics that will spark investigation for more.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written, well-organized howto
Review: The first thing I noticed about this book is the logical organization. It starts out with basic CVS functions and uses, then progresses to more advanced tasks and configurations. It is clear and concise, and so well-organized it's easy to look up specific tasks without having to wade through gobs of irrelevant verbiage. It includes many common pitfalls, and what to do about them. It covers logging, scripting, security, local and remote access- this is the best reference for CVS. I recommend it highly all users, beginners to intermediate especially.
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