Software Engineering basics - What are Version Control Systems in Software Engineering?

Q: What are Version Control Systems in Software Engineering? A Version Control System (VCS) is a tool that tracks and manages changes to code over time, allowing multiple developers to collaborate on the same project without overwriting each other’s work. It acts like a history log for software, recording every modification so that teams can review, revert, or branch off code when needed.

The most widely used VCS today is Git, often paired with platforms like GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket for collaboration. With Git, developers can create branches to work on new features or bug fixes independently, then merge them back into the main codebase once tested. This ensures stability while supporting parallel development.

Version control also provides benefits such as rollback capability (returning to previous versions if something breaks), audit trails (seeing who made changes and why), and conflict resolution (handling edits made by multiple people to the same file). These features make it essential for modern software teams practicing Agile, DevOps, or open-source development.

By using version control, teams gain collaboration, accountability, and safety, ensuring that projects remain organized and resilient even as they scale to thousands of contributors.