Subversion provides many features similar to other SCM tools. Below is a list of features provided by Subversion.

• Commits are true atomic operations. Interrupted commit operations do not cause repository inconsistency or corruption.
• Renamed/copied/moved/removed files retain full revision history.
• Directories, renames, and file metadata (but not timestamps) are versioned. Entire directory trees can be moved around and/or copied very quickly, and retain full revision history.
• Versioning of symbolic links.
• Native support for binary files, with space-efficient binary-diff storage.
• Apache HTTP Server as network server, WebDAV/DeltaV for protocol. There is also an independent server process that uses a custom protocol over TCP/IP.
• Branching and tagging are cheap operations, independent of file size, though Subversion itself does not distinguish between a tag, a branch, and a directory
• Natively client/server, layered library design.
• Client/server protocol sends diffs in both directions.
• Costs are proportional to change size, not data size.
• Parsable output, including XML log output.
• Open source licensed — "CollabNet/Tigris.org Apache-style license"
• Internationalised program messages.
• File locking for unmergeable files ("reserved checkouts").
• Path-based authorization.
• PHP, Python, Perl, and Java language bindings.
• Full MIME support - the MIME Type of each file can be viewed or changed, with the software knowing which MIME types can have their differences from previous versions shown.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subversion_(software)