This is for a web based project where my serverside application code and client side JS/HJTML is under version control. Lets say I release version 1.0, and create a new branch from the trunk with the 1.0 release. I run my build tool which spits out all of the compressed and combined files. Within my directory structure it generates a build directory with the compressed/built files.
Should I commit the build directory so I have a copy of each build/release without having to re-build it if I need another copy (for another server say..)?
Keeping build output under version control is often a good idea. It allows the output to be stored in a structure that mirrors the input. This makes it clear which input produced which output. It also allows easy access to any version’s output without rebuilding.
The reasons dismiss it as an option are mainly repository related. Reasons include such things as the repository is too small, access is too slow, or there is just a dislike of having output files in the repository.
But generally, there is nothing inherently bad about doing it. And in many situations it is valuable.