Why is better collaboration a benefit of version control?

Better collaboration is indeed a significant benefit of version control, particularly because it verifies that there are no conflicting changes in branches. In a development environment where multiple team members work on different features or bug fixes simultaneously, version control systems manage various branches of the codebase. When developers work in isolated branches, the version control system is essential for tracking changes and ensuring that when those changes are integrated back into the main branch, they do not conflict with one another.

This conflict verification process allows teams to collaborate more effectively because it alerts developers to any issues before merging their work, thus facilitating smoother integration of everyone's contributions. By resolving potential conflicts during the merge process, version control promotes a more organized and cooperative development environment, allowing all team members to see and address changes made by others, which enhances overall team collaboration and productivity.

The other options suggest practices that do not align with the collaborative benefits of version control. For instance, allowing code changes without reviews does not foster collaboration and could lead to errors. Restricting access contradicts the very notion of collaboration by isolating users. Lastly, creating a single version of files without alternatives would limit flexibility and the ability for teams to explore different solutions or features concurrently.