svn: is 'trunk' simply a directory?

Question

Many subversion repositories have a trunk subdirectory under the root of the repository.

Is the trunk directory in svn simply a directory with a name that follows a convention, or does the name trunk have special meaning hard-coded into subversion?

Answer 1

Yes, having a trunk directory is simply a convention and is treated just like any other directory. You can have a Subversion repository without a trunk, and you can do your daily development work out of a directory with a different name.

Answer 2

It is just a convention.

However many tools that import/export export data between svn and other source control systems or tools that use the code (for example GUI interfaces) assume this convention to handle meanings properly.

Answer 3

Like Artyom and Nick Meyer have already written, it's a convention. Look at the SVN Book for more detailed information; http://svnbook.red-bean.com/en/1.7/svn.branchmerge.using.html