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copied!<p>I've used several methods, depending on the size of, and amount of customization to, the 3rd-party project:</p> <ul> <li><p><strong>For small or highly-customized projects</strong> I'll check the whole thing in, starting with the stock code. This makes it easy to work on the entire project and provides "one-stop shopping" to check out everything I need to build it.</p></li> <li><p><strong>For large or slightly-customized projects</strong> I'll keep a copy of the stock archive (typically a <code>.tar.bz2</code> or <code>.zip</code> file) and be sure it's backed up. Then I'll keep the files that embody my customizations under revision control in some form. Options here are </p> <ul> <li><p>Check in (only) the customized files themselves. This is usually the best choice if you're modifying source code. </p></li> <li><p>Check in a script that does the customization. This is most effective if the script supplies input to a configuration utility, because you're storing your customizations (the input data) separate from the stock pieces (the config utility). If a new version of the 3rd-party library is released, it's usually easy to apply your customizations to it, allowing for critical upgrades.</p></li> </ul></li> <li><p><strong>For projects that "will never change™,"</strong> or for which customers have <strong>contractually bound you to particular versions,</strong> store the stock code somewhere, and create patch files under revision control. Then you can release the "approved" version with a patch. <em>Note: this is a fairly horrible choice, as patch files are awful to maintain--if you make a new patch, you must either re-create the patch files or create an additional patch that's applied on top of the first patch. The reasons for choosing this option are usually not chosen for technical reasons.</em></p></li> </ul> <p>I cannot stress enough that <strong>_you need to document the entire process of building this sort of project and adding customizations, or automate it, or (preferably) both.</strong> It's astonishingly easy to forget which files belong where, or to whom, and it's painful to start over. Especially if you're the heir.</p> <p>Good luck!</p>

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