Version control and bug tracking

A Web 2.0 hamster and owner (photo from stock.xchng)

For the last couple of months I’ve been using a couple of free tools for personal version control and bug tracking issues.

While there may be bigger, better products out there, such as CVS or SubVersion (version control) and Trac, FogBugz or Bugzilla (bug tracking) sometimes you just want something quick, that works with as little fuss or setup as possible; something for the small projects, something that doesn’t take half a day to configure and link into a database server.

FileHamster

FileHamster is a freeware personal revision control system from MOGware (for Windows). The software provides real-time back-up of your files while you work on them.

The software allows you to monitor a particular folder (or hierarchy of folders) and you can specify whether to monitor all files or only files or a particular type. It then gets on an creates automatic, incremental backups of those files each time you save.

You can also store notes about the changes that have been made, allowing you to quickly locate a specific revision or provide a detailed account of the work you’ve done on a project.

Bug Pad

Bug Pad from Software Productions is a free (Windows) bug and issue tracker. While you can use it with an SQL server I run it from a flat file on the network. Most areas of the software are customizable including:

• Project folders
• Issue types (e.g. bug, missing file, comment, typo, IA, etc.)
• Status (e.g. Open, In Progress, Waiting for, Closed , Reopened)
• Assigned to (e.g. Developer, Web Team, etc.)
• Severity (e.g. High, Medium, Low, 1, 2, 3, etc.)

Search folders can be created so that users can track tasks assigned to them, or all bugs of a particular type. It will also manage workflow, rules and synchronization conflicts (for those working with more users).