Previous comment directly on target. Book does not support a novice user, but rather is for someone familiar with system administration who only needs an update on the specifics of SVN. Possibly useful as a reference for someone already familiar with SVN. Background as a user of the earlier CVS is not sufficient, and in some cases is confusing when using this book to transition from CVS to SVN. Lack of introductory support is appalling, given the description of the material.

For all the words on the 316 pages, I've highlighted a very small number of key items that are essential to me as simply a user of SVN. There seems to be a lot of bloat. SVN performs a valuable service and is not really so difficult to use. Books like this contribute to the notion that version control is something arcane, to be avoided if at all possible. That's nuts. Version control in general, and SVN in particular, are valuable even for a single user but are especially powerful for projects that involve multiple developers.

A better introductory book is Pragmatic Version Control: Using Subversion (2nd Edition) by Mike Mason. It nails the basic concepts before diving into details, but the details are there too. If some parts are too basic, skip on to the parts that are pertinent. It's 231 pages are well organized and cover more advanced topics too.

out of date, mostly a recapitulation of the online redbean materials.

since dated, it's not terribly relevant. 1.0. 1.4 just shipped! should say so in the title prominently and in the descriptions.

Practical Subversion misses the balance between the version control newbie and the power user. Either the information is very basic and the same things you can get from the free, online, and up-to-date documentation (http://svnbook.red-bean.com/), or the information isn't enough.

This book doesn't make subversion any easier to use, and there aren't tricks for getting around its verbose interface. This isn't work-a-day subversion: it flips between novice user and power administrator without much stuff in the middle.

If you already have a subversion book, or can get by with the online documentation, flip through this book at a bookstore before you buy it. Look for the answers to the things you didn't find elsewhere before you decide to buy it.

Book glosses over the basics and then spends 3/4 of the book delving into advanced topics. Not a book to become a competent every-day user of svn. If you are a sysadmin alredy very familiar with svn and looking to develop it at your site, then it may be for you.

This book seems to have been written based on a version < 1.0 and that results in many features advanced users will need or at least want to use. The book assumes bdb backend and there is no mention of the fsfs backend that now is the default.

I hoped this book would provide more advanced insight and thereby be the perfect companion to the "Version control with Subversion" book. That would probably have worked well if the current release was 1.0, but this book is unfortunately too old to be useful that way.

An updated version of this or even better a "Subversion Cookbook" would be very interesting.