VCSs & CGIs on localhost

So... I'm having some fun, working on my CGIs and web pages, and
naturally making a big mess. I need to have version control like any
old programming project. I've been manually copying stuff up to
/Library/, but was thinking of using a VCS in my own development
folders, and using Interarchy or similar to mirror up to localhost.

(This seems to be beyond my skill level, btw)

Then it hit me  - what do people normally do when they are working on
this kind of stuff? Many of them must be developing/testing locally, 
and then
copying their stuff up to their server when appropriate.

I don't know that I'll ever be putting anything up on a server for some
time, but I'd rather benefit from the experiences of...the, er, 
experienced.

I'm using Subversion; not that that makes a difference.

Mike