Technical books always face a certain dilemma: whether to cater to top-down or bottom-up learners. A top-down learner prefers to read or skim documentation, getting a large overview of how the system works; only then does she actually start using the software. A bottom-learner is a в€œlearn by doingв€� person, someone who just wants to dive into the software and figure it out as she goes, referring to book sections when necessary. Most books tend to be written for one type of person or the other, and this book is undoubtedly biased towards top-down learners. (And if you're actually reading this section, you're probably already a top-down learner yourself!) However, if you're a bottom-up person, don't despair. While the book may be laid out as a broad survey of Subversion topics, the contents of each section tends to be heavy with specific examples that you can try-by-doing. For the impatient folks who just want to get going, you can jump right to AppendixВ A, Subversion Quick-Start Guide.

Regardless of your learning style, this book aims to be useful to people of widely different backgroundsв€”from people with no previous experience in version control to experienced system administrators. Depending on your own background, certain chapters may be more or less important to you. The following can be considered a в€œrecommended reading listв€� for various types of readers:

The book ends with reference materialв€”ChapterВ 9, Subversion Complete Reference is a reference guide for all Subversion commands, and the appendices cover a number of useful topics. These are the chapters you're mostly likely to come back to after you've finished the book.