Named Branches vs Multiple Repositories

Question

We\'re currently using subversion on a relatively large codebase. Each release gets its own branch, and fixes are performed against the trunk and migrated into release branc

Answer 1

I'd really advise against using named branches for versions. That's really what tags are for. Named branches are meant for long lasting diversions, like a stable branch.

So why not just use tags? A basic example:

• Development happens on a single branch
• Whenever a release is created, you tag it accordingly
• Development just continues on from there
• If you have some bugs to fix (or whatever) in a certain release, you just update to it's tag, make your changes and commit

That will create a new, unnamed head on the default branch, aka. an anonymous branch, which is perfectly fine in hg. You may then at any point merge the bugfix commits back into the main development track. No need for named branches.