(dance)

I edited my reply, can you make sure you read the edit please!

Yeah, you can use source control to do those things. But you don't always need to. I suppose it depends on the scale and complexity of your project, how many people are involved. My projects are structurally simple by design, even if they sometimes have a lot of content. I make instant backups of individual files in the file browser before applying extensive edits, or I just comment out successive revisions right in the file. Maybe the day will come when I need version control here. So far, not.

It's like you've gone into the chip-shop with your wife, started flirting with her a bit, right in front of the girl from the chip shop, the pulled out a camping stove, some spuds and a pan of oil, and peeled the spuds and cut them up, and heated the oil over the stove, and made chips in the hot oil, and all the while, the girl in the chip shop's wondering why you didn't just ask for some chips.

It's like you go to the store and buy a bag of crisps. But before you open them, you realize they could spoil. So you stuff them into your bag as a backup, and buy another, identical bag of crisps. But before you open them, you realize they could spoil. So you stuff them into your bag as a backup, and buy another, identical bag of crisps. But before you open them, you realize they could spoil. So you stuff them into your bag as a backup, and buy another, identical bag of crisps. But before you open them, you realize they could spoil. So you stuff them into your bag as a backup, and buy another, identical bag of crisps. But before you open them, you realize they could spoil. So you stuff them into your bag as a backup, and buy another, identical bag of crisps. But before you open them, you realize they could spoil. So you stuff them into your bag as a backup, and buy another, identical bag of crisps. And finally your bag is completely full of crisps, and the ones at the bottom have been crushed. Despondent, you ask the girl behind the counter if you may return the crisps for a refund. She shakes her head 'no', and asks you to take your bag of backup crisps outside to the dumpster, for the same homeless person you gave your crisps to yesterday.

Here's a little task for you:

Count the number of experienced professional developers who have logged in to Teh in the past 24 hours.

Add to it the number of experienced amateur developers who have logged in to Teh in the past 24 hours.

Now subtract from that the number of people who are laughing at and pitying you for thinking your crummy methodology (one we've all done but out-grown) is superior to source control.

Now take the zero and put it round your wrist to be a reminder for what you need to do next time you're about to go near any code.

(You might like to grab a biro and scribble "p.s. use the fucking dev tools" on it too.)

Ahhh. Were your backup crisps crushed too? :-(