The basics of Git and GitHub highlighted by me using tips, tutorials, and insights.
Introduction
Git is a distributed version control system that tracks changes in files and coordinates work among multiple developers. It allows for efficient collaboration and management of projects.
Concepts
Repository
A repository (repo) is a portal/storage area that hosts all of your project’s files and folders, as well as their history.
Commit
A commit is a snapshot of changes made to the project’s files or folders. Committing your changes is equivalent to “saving” changes made to a file. Each commit has a unique identifier and a message describing the changes.
Branch
A branch is a parallel version of a repository, allowing you to work on different features or fixes without affecting the main codebase.
Merge
Merging combines changes from one branch into another, typically used to integrate features or fixes into the main codebase.
Pull Request (PR)
A pull request is a request to merge changes from one branch into another. It allows for review and discussion before the changes are merged.
Setup
Installation
Download and install Git from
git-scm.comConfiguration
- Open up a terminal on your local machine
- Run the following commands one by one and set your name and email address:
git config --global user.name "your username"
git config --global user.email "yourname@email.com"
Commands
The basic commands for running and managing Git are highlighted below. Git has over 135 commands that are all useful in their own ways. I will update this page with them all once I have a condensed version of explaining and introducing them.
1. Initializing a Repository
This command initializes a local repository in the current local directory of your machine
git init
2. Status
This command checks the status of the current git repository which includes unstaged commits, changes, and unpushed references.
git status
3. Changes
Adding Changes
git add . // adds all changed files
git add file1.ext file2.ext // adds all specified files
Committing Changes
git commit -m "your commit message" // commits the added files
Pushing Changes
git push origin <branch-name> // pushes changes to the given branch
4. Viewing Commit History
Use this command to view the history of all commits
git log
5. Branches
Create Branch
git branch <branch-name>
Switch to a Branch
git checkout <branch-name>
6. Merging
git merge <branch-name>
Resources
Like mentioned above, this is a quick run-down of the basics of Git and GitHub. If you would like to know more about the various resources, check these links out!