If you've been reading this book chapter by chapter, from start to finish, you should by now have acquired enough knowledge to use the Subversion client to perform the most common version control operations. You understand how to check out a working copy from a Subversion repository. You are comfortable with submitting and receiving changes using the svn commit and svn update operations. You've probably even developed a reflex that causes you to run the svn status command almost unconsciously. For all intents and purposes, you are ready to use Subversion in a typical environment.

But the Subversion feature set doesn't stop at “common version control operations.” It has other bits of functionality besides just communicating file and directory changes to and from a central repository.

This chapter highlights some of Subversion's features that, while important, may not be part of the typical user's daily routine. It assumes that you are familiar with Subversion's basic file and directory versioning capabilities. If you aren't, you'll want to first read Chapter 1, Fundamental Concepts and Chapter 2, Basic Usage. Once you've mastered those basics and consumed this chapter, you'll be a Subversion power user!