How can I back-up my java project in Eclipse?

I'm new to development and I'm sure this is a silly question but i can't work out how i s开发者_如何学运维hould be backing-up copies of my project. When everything's working right i want to save a copy/make a back-up so that if i ever mess everything up i'll have something i can go back to, but of course it's not as simple as just copying a file like i normally would for anything else. Sorry for the silly query, but if someone could point me in the right direction as to how i should go about this that would be great!

It's not a silly question. You can back up your project directory (just make a copy, zip, etc) but I would advise you to have a look at version management (cvs, subversion, git, whatever you like). With version management you can go back to any state, create different development branches etc...

When everything's working right i want to save a copy/make a back-up so that if i ever mess everything up i'll have something i can go back to

A version control system is perfect for you. Eclipse allows to clone your repository into a version control system such as CVS, SVN, Mercurial, Clearcase, Git, etc.

For me, I use Mercurial (previously using SVN), and its Eclipse plugin can be found on JavaForge.

I find Mercurial to be very handy.

It requires no server, but it still allows for multiple developers on the same project by splitting the program into two different branches of development and merging them together when complete.

Even without resorting to a version management, Eclipse provides a similar feature: in the Preferences, go to General -> Workspace -> Local History

You can export your project as an archive and just save it somewhere, then import it whenever you need/want to. Just right click on the project, choose export and follow the instructions

Version control software is usually the best option, allowing you to create branches and browse revisions easily.

If you're on Windows, you can set up a local SVN repository using VisualSVN server very quickly.

If you'd want the repository online, have a look at Google Code (only open-source) or Assembla (they mostly offer paid services, but do provide nice and free SVN or GIT repositories).