Beginning Version Control with Mercurial and Bitbucket

Keeping track of code changes and collaborating with other developers can be overwhelming without a structured system. This text-based course introduces you to the essentials of distributed version control using Mercurial and Bitbucket, helping you organize your workflow. You will transition from manual file backups to a professional development cycle. Through clear explanations and practical written exercises, you will learn to track changes, manage development paths, and collaborate on remote repositories. What you'll learn: Understand core version control concepts and how distributed systems manage code history; Configure Mercurial locally and master essential commands like commit, status, and log; Manage development paths with branching and merging strategies to keep your codebase clean; Set up remote repositories on Bitbucket to back up your work and collaborate securely; Resolve merge conflicts systematically using clear, step-by-step techniques; Apply modern collaboration workflows, including pull requests and secure authentication practices. The course begins with foundational concepts and installation steps before guiding you through local operations, branching, and remote integration with Bitbucket. This course is designed entirely for beginners with no prior version control experience, requiring only basic computer literacy. Start your journey toward clean, organized, and collaborative code management today.