theory

Hunt and Thomas, "The Pragmatic Programmers", provide a delightfully brief user's guide for the Concurrent Version System (CVS). They focus on idiomatic usage patterns, leading the way from installing CVS and creating a first project to branching for releases and developer sandboxes. They provide practical advice on when to branch, how to comment, what constitutes a project, and even what to check into CVS in the first place. I've been using CVS for years, and learned a lot here; especially about the various kinds of diff reporting and configuration options.

Almost everyone is confused by CVS first. Almost everyone who gets over the learning curve swears by it (or some variant). The main adoption hurdle is the unix-style documentation that provides telegraphic explanations of commands in insider jargon. Hunt and Thomas explain what it all means, and more importantly, how to use it, and why to use it. Complex relationships like merge conflicts are illustrated with clear diagrams and sensible easy-to-follow examples. Even though I see myself using this book quite a bit, I could've used it even more when I was getting started, before CVS became second nature.