Should I use a VCS like GIT, SVN or CVS?

[pracket]

I've always been a lone developer on projects. I'm starting a new site from scratch and figure it might be good to think of this now before I start.

For this project, I think it will remain small. I'll do all the design and development. I may at a later point invite a few others to join me, or start contracting out to get parts of the project done.

Should I use a VCS?

Other questions:

Can I always start later? After the website is mature, as long as I don't need access to earlier code, there's nothing wrong with implementing the VCS at that point, right?
How does a VCS tie into actual deployment of files on the live site? Does the VCS do it for me?
Do I need to use the VCS for all my files, or can I just use it for PHP/CSS/Javascript, let's say? I don't need versioning of images.


Thanks for any clarification you can offer. I'm new to this and it's rather intimidating.

[Clockwork Bear]

It would be better to start using it straight away on a project if you are going to use it. It may be easier to get the hang of with less files.

You can add any files you want to your version control but source code and documentation are what it normally saved, in my experience.

To deploy a version of your system you usually check it out and tag the branch as a release. Then upload the files as normal.

Version control systems can do lots of useful things, I am no expert. I would recommend get yourself a good book on the subject and experiment with a small project first.

Adam