> "I see that you've spent X years using Subversion for source control. What are your opinions on trunk-first development vs. branch-first development?"
Actually, this demonstrates a problem right here. It's not clear to me what you mean by these terms. A quick Google search ("trunk-first vs branch-first svn") suggests that you're not using common terminology.
After thinking about it for a minute or two, what I _think_ you're asking is "should all development happen on a common branch, or should developers create separate branches for individual features/fixes, merging back into the mainline when finished". And, indeed, I'd be happy to have a conversation with you about this.
But if it takes me a couple of minutes to figure this out while just sitting here at home, in the pressure of an interview, I'm probably going to fumble, or say "I don't understand what you mean", which will make me wonder if I've blown the entire interview. This despite the fact that I've been programming for 20 years and have used a number of version control systems (CVS, ClearCase, P4, Subversion, and most recently Git).
Actually, this demonstrates a problem right here. It's not clear to me what you mean by these terms. A quick Google search ("trunk-first vs branch-first svn") suggests that you're not using common terminology.
After thinking about it for a minute or two, what I _think_ you're asking is "should all development happen on a common branch, or should developers create separate branches for individual features/fixes, merging back into the mainline when finished". And, indeed, I'd be happy to have a conversation with you about this.
But if it takes me a couple of minutes to figure this out while just sitting here at home, in the pressure of an interview, I'm probably going to fumble, or say "I don't understand what you mean", which will make me wonder if I've blown the entire interview. This despite the fact that I've been programming for 20 years and have used a number of version control systems (CVS, ClearCase, P4, Subversion, and most recently Git).