Version control is a key enabler for efficient, Agile development. At its heart, version control focuses on one core concept: tracking changes to files over time.

For a brief introduction to version control, check out A brief introduction to version control.

Version control allows for change tracking, peer review, parallel deployment streams, and change merging, rather than overwriting.

Find out more about the benefits of version control, check out The benefits of version control driven development.

Luckily, it’s a simple choice for Salesforce development, as Git has established itself as the de facto version control system. Git is used by millions of developers around the world and is the recommended system for all Salesforce development teams.

Although there are many service providers for Git-based version control, there are three clear market-leaders:

GitHub - Getting started with GitHub

Bitbucket - Guides on Bitbucket

GitLab - Getting started with GitLab

All three provide a mature and effective platform for Salesforce development. There are many VCS providers out there, and the one you choose will depend on your team's unique circumstances and preferences. Check out our blog post titled Which Git hosting provider is right for your Salesforce team?

With your trial of Gearset, you can try out our integration with any version control provider. Each Git provider mentioned above has a dedicated getting started page here in Gearset's Help Center. To trial one of their solutions, follow the links above to be directed to the provider's website.

To integrate them with Gearset, check out our dedicated guides:

GitHub - Integrating with GitHub

Bitbucket - Integrating with Bitbucket

GitLab - Integrating with GitLab

Once you have chosen a version control provider, you will need to set up your repository, following the steps in our guide, How to set up your new source control repository. Next, you must decide on which branching strategy to use. Gearset provides an introduction to DevOps best-practices in our guide, A best-practice DevOps model. Additionally, we have a a comprehensive library of learning resources to get you started.

DevOps Launchpad Courses:

Version control fundamentals

The feature branch model

Git branching strategies

Gearset Blogposts:

Choosing the right Git branching strategy

If you are interested in more information on the hows, whats, and benefits of version control, check out our Version control for Salesforce whitepaper.