snapvc 0.2.0

A lightweight version control system with cross-platform support

SnapVC - Simple Version Control System

A lightweight, educational version control system written in Python. Perfect for learning how Git-like systems work internally, with a unique "house" system (similar to branches) and cross-platform compatibility.

🚀 Quick Start

Install

pip install snapvc

Basic Usage

# Initialize repository
svcs init

# Stage files
svcs ready

# Create snapshot
svcs snapshot

# View current version
svcs current

✨ Key Features

• 🏠 House System: Branch-like parallel development environments
• 📸 Snapshots: Version your code with SHA-256 integrity checking
• 🌍 Cross-Platform: Works seamlessly on Windows, macOS, and Linux
• 📚 Educational: Perfect for understanding version control internals
• 🚫 Smart Ignoring: Automatically excludes OS-specific files (.DS_Store, Thumbs.db, etc.)
• 📦 Zero Dependencies: Uses only Python standard library

📖 Commands

Command	Description
svcs init	Initialize repository in current directory
svcs ready	Stage all files for snapshot
svcs snapshot	Create versioned snapshot of staged files
svcs house new <name>	Create new development house (branch)
svcs house <name>	Switch to existing house
svcs house show	List all available houses
svcs current	Show current version number
svcs revert <version>	Restore to specific snapshot version

🏠 House System (Branches)

Houses are SnapVC's equivalent to Git branches, allowing parallel development:

# Create feature house
svcs house new feature-auth

# Work on your feature
echo "login system" > auth.py
svcs ready && svcs snapshot

# Switch back to main
svcs house main

# Switch to your feature house
svcs house feature-auth

🔧 How It Works

SnapVC demonstrates core version control concepts:

• Staging Area: Files are prepared in a "ready" area before snapshotting
• Content Hashing: Each snapshot gets a unique SHA-256 hash for integrity
• Binary Serialization: Efficient storage using Python's pickle format
• Path Normalization: Cross-platform file path handling

Storage Structure

.svcss/
├── house.txt              # Current active house
├── all_house.txt          # Available houses list
└── main/                  # Default house
    ├── ready/             # Staging area
    └── snapshot/
        ├── version.txt    # Version counter
        └── 1/
            └── <hash>     # Snapshot data

🌍 Cross-Platform Support

SnapVC automatically handles platform differences:

• Windows: Uses backslash paths, ignores Thumbs.db, desktop.ini
• macOS: Uses forward slash paths, ignores .DS_Store
• Linux: Supports all distributions, ignores *~, .directory

💡 Use Cases

Learning & Education

• Understand version control system internals
• Learn about hashing, serialization, and file tracking
• Explore branching and parallel development concepts

Small Projects

• Simple backup and versioning for personal projects
• Lightweight alternative when Git feels too heavy
• Experimentation with different development workflows

Development Practice

• Practice CLI tool development patterns
• Study cross-platform Python programming
• Learn about binary data handling and file systems

🚦 Requirements

• Python 3.7+
• Operating System: Windows, macOS, or Linux
• Dependencies: None (standard library only)

📚 Example Workflow

# Start new project
mkdir my-project && cd my-project
svcs init

# Create some files
echo "print('Hello World')" > main.py
echo "# My Project" > README.md

# Stage and snapshot
svcs ready
svcs snapshot

# Create feature branch
svcs house new add-tests
echo "def test_hello(): pass" > test_main.py

# Stage and snapshot feature
svcs ready
svcs snapshot

# Check current state
svcs current  # Shows: You are at version 2
svcs house    # Shows: You are at add-tests

# Switch back to main
svcs house main
ls           # Only main.py and README.md (test_main.py not here)

# Go back to feature
svcs house add-tests
ls           # All files including test_main.py

⚠️ Important Notes

• Destructive Operations: svcs revert permanently deletes files not in target snapshot
• Working Directory: Always run commands from your project root
• Binary Storage: Snapshots are stored in binary format (not human-readable)
• Case Sensitivity: House names are case-sensitive

📝 License

MIT License - see full license text at https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT

👨‍💻 Author

Shreyash Mogaveera
GitHub: @ShreyashM17

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Learn version control by building it yourself! 🚀

SnapVC makes complex version control concepts accessible through hands-on experience.