We Keep Coding

Update your code without losing what you have? c#

I have a well functioning code but I have to change a lot of things on it to make it more efficient, my question is, Is there a way to save your code (without creating any new projects) in case I screw things up? Like a time machine on MacOS

You need a version control system . It's "like time machine" for code and even better: it provides history, allows you to see differencies between arbitrary versions of your code, go back and forth along the versions and lot more. All the professional developers use Version Control Systems.
Good examples of VCS are Git, SVN, Mercurial. I suggest, that you learn git (mostly adopted now):
Git book)
Fancy gamefied jump-start from GitHub

If you're a .NET developer with an MSDN subscription, take a look at Team Foundation Server. Otherwise, Git or SVN are your go-tos. We run SVN with TortoiseSVN on the client side, and it's been great so far (and free!).

Easy update assistance

We are writing simple architectured software in C# 3.5.
What I was searching for is for easy updating framework/application...
We don't have COM components, Servicdes to install or whatever, so basically what we need is xcopy stuff form one Server side directory to the client. So what the program should do is like a workflow:
Check some location \Server\Updates for manifest.xml
Check the local setup verison
Download all available DLLs (doesn't necessary all need for complete application, so kind of patch stuff) and substitude them with "old" ones.
I'm aware of ClickOnce, of App publishing, also our setup generator supports autoamtic updates (even if noone yet used it, and I don't want to use to not strongly couple ourselfs with that technology).
Do you know some app or technology, that I'm not aware (actually listed in question) which could better fit our needs. ?
Thank you in advance.

So, after the comment, the answer:
I would look at this SO post.
I looked wyWuild and the AutomaticUpdater controler some time ago. It really looked great.
EDIT
I just remembered that I chose to use AppLife Update in the end. It's more expensive but the features are extremely good

How and which tool should I use for Source Control? [closed]

Closed. This question does not meet Stack Overflow guidelines. It is not currently accepting answers.
We don’t allow questions seeking recommendations for books, tools, software libraries, and more. You can edit the question so it can be answered with facts and citations.
Closed 7 years ago.
Improve this question
A little bit of Background first:
I have been using Team Foundation Server for about few months and know pretty much how to use it. I have been using it for my project on Codeplex. They required TFS and it was in my Visual Studio Installations, so basically I never knew what all it took to get it to work as it seamlessly worked inside Visual Studio and I just had to do Check In and Check Out stuff...
But now I wanted to see what other Alternatives were available and first installed Mercurial command line (which I never used), then searched for a GUI alternative and installed TortoiseHg and followed instruction from documentation on its Website. Then it said to install a 3 way Diff tool... I searched for it and then Found TortoiseSVN; I thought it must be some plugin or something so I searched SO for questions related to my situation when I stumbled upon this SO Question and was pretty mesmerized by so many tools for different work.
Now:
Can somebody explain what all tools are for source control. Do I have to install a different tool for every different task. Isn't there any single package for all of them. And basically what are the tasks we perform in Source Controlling. I only know Check In, Check Out and checking difference from Codeplex Website. What else should I know.
Does every website like Git, BitBucket, etc use different Tortoise (xxx) for their source control.
Are Source Control and Version Control different terms
Please help..

This is a huge topic and will be impossible to provide a single all-encompassing answer. Nonetheless here are a few thoughts, assuming you are looking for more of a Software Configuration Management solution rather than a simple Revision Control System type approach:
Release Management:
In addition to concurrency control (check-in, check-out, etc.) your SCM can/should also provide history, tagging, branching, and other release management type capabilities. That is, it should always provide a single source of truth as to what source files when into which release, service packs, etc. In order to do this, your build environment needs to be well integrated into your SCM.
WIP Management:
A good SCM system will allow to you compare your work-in-progress to the latest checked in revision. It should also let you revert your WIP, shelve it temporarily, or merge another's changes on a file by file basis.
Documentation & Training
Do not underestimate how important it is to use a tool that can give you a ton of help, books, documentation, community support, and even paid support if needed. Also selecting a "popular" tool can mean that some new developers have one less thing to learn.
Continuous Integration:
Automated builds are a must for any serious organization and you should pick an SCM that can be access by your build systems (e.g. Hudson, CruiseControl, Bamboo, etc.)
Security
The SCM system should have a built in authentication system and also be able to use outside authentication providers as many organizations change over time. In addition, it should be able to support developers working outside the firewall, preferrably over http.
IDE and Build Tool Integration
To make all this stuff easier your SCM must be able to be seamlessly linked into your development system and any command line tools you use. This fact is made easier by the fact that almost all non-Microsoft IDE's support all SCM tools.
Source Browsing
Most SCM tools that I've seen have a number of very high quality, third party browsers such as Fisheye. So I discount this as a differentiating factor.
So which tool to use?
If your organization is fairly well contained within your company then pick Subversion. It is very popular, integrates with every IDE/OS/Build tool, works with ToroiseSVN, supports all platforms, supports multiple protocols, several UI, a powerful command line, a huge community, is free, and is rock solid. It also has an excellent free book.
If you have a highly distributed development group and/or expect to receive open-source contributions from many different folks, go with the distributed capabilities of Git.
Beyond these two, save yourself a ton of time and hassle and forget everything else....really. I realize I am being opinionated, but you kinda asked for an opinion.

If I was to advise something to you, it would be
Use mercurial (aka hg), and start by
learning it in the command line. That
way you will learn all basic concepts,
which could be somewhat hidden from
you when using only GUI overlay such
as TortoiseHG. All with a good
simplistic tutorial of course, perhaps
widely known hginit which covers
some simple usage scenarios.
That would be answer to "What else should I know" part, at least for a start. You can then explore by yourself, having a limited, but somewhat solid base. Or, at least, you will be able to ask more concise questions to learn more, or make more sense of the SO question you quote. Your question is somewhat broader than this, of course, but I would advise not to try to grasp everything at once. Each system has it's own quirks and specialties, but you shouldn't be worried by that fact now. Just as with programming -- you should not try to learn many languages at once, if you don't know any yet.
Ah, and as a finishing touch: Tortoise(xxx) is not exactly a revision control system, thats just a typical name for a shell-integrated Windows client to system xxx. As far as I'm concerned, the "Tortoise" part refers to "shell".
PS. the "Mercurial" advice is due to my personal taste of course, but also by the feeling that learning Hg will enable you to grasp most of the ideas from other systems quite easy (if you ever need to).

From my personal experience I would recommend looking at the new generation of 'Source Control Systems' that are called Distributed Version Control Systems. These are systems like Git (and I think Mercurial but I haven't used that.) that actaully store a full version control system locally and when you commit to the remote repository (push in git terms) you push the changes in your local version control system to the master version control system on the server.
Also Git is designed to make Branching a breeze. In systems like Subversion branching is not as easy but with Git Branching is the recommended practice of making changes. I have used Git, Subversion (SVN) and SourceSafe(the worst Source control System of the three by far!) and this is the major advantage of Git over more traditional Source Control Systems.
For Example if you are fixing a bug or adding a feature in a code base that uses SVN the standard practice would be to
Check out the branch you are going to work in.
Make any bug fixes and test them.
Checkin the changes.
With Git or Similar systems you would
Branch the master branch locally (i.e. development, producton version 1.1, etc.).
Make any bug fixes and test in your locally branched version (i.e. you made a jira-123-bugfix branch for version 1.1).
Merge the branch back into your local copy of the master branch that you created it from and make sure everything is OK.
Then push the changes you made to your local copy of the master branch to the central Git repository.
The advantage of this is that if you have to go back and revist the bug fix you still have your local copy of that branch.
See articles like A Successful Git Branching Model for more info.

what are the different componenets needed to produce and sell an application in C#?

I need some help with my knowledge of .NET !
ive always created applications using C#(for fun), i also have knowledge in C, however i have some unanswered question and ive been searching for days!
once i create my form and my application is running fine, do i need to add a class of any sort to programeName.cs file? and why (i breifly know why but i need to understand exactly why, and when is it a must) ?
when im finished with the application design and my previous question is answered; what do i need to do to sell the application? do i just burn a CD with the .exe in it?? :S
i guess my question would be, what are the different componenets needed to produce and sell an application? is it really as simple as just creating a windows application form that works??
Cheers

Your question is really about two things:
Technical completion
Distribution
You don't need to do anything special, short of perhaps building in release mode rather than debug mode, to have a product ready to ship. You can do extra things, but don't need to. If you want to package it up in an installer application such as an MSI then you can, which makes distributing and installing easier for end users. Alternatively, depending on your audience, zipping it and telling users to xcopy it might be sufficient.
In terms of distribution - burning cds is out. Use the internet. If you're really solving a paint point for customers, and there is legit need for your app then customers will come. How do you get traffic to your site? Blog about it, (ideally in advance), find a few important blogs in the same vertical, with good readerships, and insert yourself into them. Add insightful comments, and post a topic expanding on it in your blog, and link to it. Build SEO, get inbound links etc.

If you application is running fine then you shouldn't need to add anymore code. Now, you might want to create an installer package. This is preferable to just have the plain executable as it will aid in creating Start menu shortcuts and so forth. However, if your app is very simple, you may just want an exe; it really depends but people usually create an installer. You can create a simple one within Visual Studio.
As far as selling, there are some other things like building a web site and using some sort of payment vendor. A lot depends on your specific needs and goals.

Design considerations when implementing/distributing updates for application

I have already designed an applications that is nothing more than a simple WinForm with one or two classes to handle data and collection.
Fairly often I find myself refactoring parts of it or adding new features to it, not huge features but small additions to its functionality.
The question I have is what would be the best way to provide an updated program to the user after they have initially downloaded it.
I have thought of a few different options already:
Upload a new version with improvements on CodePlex
Host the application on my personal website but change the file with the latest version
Implement some sort of system that will work in a way similar to add-ons to add the functionality.
Is there a way to provide an updated application without the user having to essentially replace their current version by deleting it and replacing it with a newly downloaded one? Although the CodePlex idea seems worthwhile I wasn't sure if there was a better or easier way.
Thank you for your time.

This is what ClickOnce was designed for.
I've used it regularly in a corporate setting,but it would also be appropriate for an Internet deployment scenario. You may want to invest in a certificate so you can sign your code if this is a commercial product.
Added
Here's a shorter article with a lot of screen shots.
http://www.15seconds.com/issue/041229.htm
(Still looking for more good links).
Added - final addition
Wikipedia sums it up succinctly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ClickOnce