The basics: using check out (update), check in (commit)

Working with SVN requires it to be adopted into a working environment. Luckily working with subversion isn't hard at all.

Check out (update)

Every developer on the team can perform a 'check out' of the code. By checking out you simply get a copy of the latest code in the repository. This code will become the working copy for the developer where they can locally make changes. Every time the developer performs an 'update', they get the latest version of the code base.

Check in (commit)

When a developer has made changes, those are not yet in the repository. The changes are on his own computer (working copy). By checking in these changes (comitting) they add their changes to the repository. Other developers will receive these changes once they run an update on their working copies.