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This entire page is a 5 minute read.

Preface

This is a beginner reference/tutorial for git. I will include only things that are necessary for the user to start using git. I will avoid mentioning complex topics or scenarios.

After reading this entire document, the user should be ready to start using git locally, and should be able to contribute to remote repositories as well.

Basic Concepts

Repository

git stores your project's entire history, all its branches and commits, in a hidden .git directory at the root of your project. This directory contains everything git needs to track your project.

Working Tree

This is your working directory, your project folder, which holds all your project files in their current state.

Staging Area (Index)

The staging area is a step between your working tree and the git repository. When you add new files to your working tree, or make changes to existing files that are being tracked, git doesn't automatically absorb these changes. git will know that you've added new files (untracked files), or made changes to files that are being tracked (changes not staged for commit), but you need to explicitly tell git which changes you want to include in the next commit by adding them to the staging area using git add.

Commit

Once you've added changes to the staging area, you can commit them to your git repository using git commit. This creates a new commit with the changes that you had staged. Commits are snapshots of your project at a particular point in time, and they become part of your project's history. You can checkout a commit (discussed later) to see exactly what your project looked like at that point in time.

Remote

In git, a remote refers to a copy of a git repository that is hosted on a server or other location, separate from your local repository (local to your computer). Remotes are essentially references to the repository stored on other machines, which can be on your local network or on the internet. Remote repositories are often used for collaboration, backup, and sharing code with others.

By convention, the word "origin" is used to refer to the remote repository, however, it can be called anything at all. It is also possible to have multiple remote repositories linked to your local repository.

What Is Github/Gitlab?

To keep things simple, I'm going to say that these are platforms, where you can store your code, your repositories. There are other alternative platforms as well.

How to Initialize a git Repository

git init

How to Add Files to the Staging Area

Add Individual Files

git add file1.txt file2.txt

Add All Files

git add . # method 1
git add -A # method 2
git add --all # method 3

How to Commit Changes

Before you can commit a change, there must be a change in the staging area. For example, it could be a new file that has been added to the staging area, or it could be a change to a file that is already being tracked by git, part of the repository.

Commit messages are important. Read how to write better commit messages here.

Method 1

git commit -m "Add margin."

Method 2

git commit -am "Add margin."

This will stage all changes and write a commit message all in one step.

Method 3

git commit

After you type this command, the default terminal editor will open up. You will have to type a commit message, save it, then exit the editor. If you do not save a commit message, no changes will be committed.

How to Check the Status of Your Working Tree

This will show you if there are any changes in the git repository, and if any new files (untracked files) have been added.

git status

How to Switch Branches

In git speak, you switch branches by 'checking them out.'

How to Checkout a New Branch

This is the same as creating a new branch. The branch will 'branch out' from your currently checked out branch.

git checkout -b BRANCHNAME

How to Checkout a Pre-existing Branch

git checkout BRANCHNAME

How to Handle Remote Repositories

How to a Add "Remote"

You can get the link to your repository from your repository's main view. 

git remote add origin [email protected]:USERNAME/REPOSITORYNAME.git

How to Push Your Local Branch

git push --set-upstream origin BRANCHNAME
  • BRANCHNAME is the local branch you want to push to the remote repository.
  • It is assumed that you have checked out this branch.

How to Fetch Remote Changes

fetch

fetch will fetch all the new branches, tags, commits from remote, but will not apply them or merge the changes. No local changes will occur.

git fetch

pull

pull on the other hand will do a git fetch and then apply the changes (if there are any) to the branch that is checked out. Therefore, git pull is a combination of git fetch followed by git merge.

git pull

Useful Aliases

gitlogr

This alias will display the git commit history in a stylized fashion, including commit author names. Feel free to rename this alias to your liking.

How to add this alias to your shell permanently

📝 This is for Linux or macOS.

  1. On a new line, add the alias to your .zshrc or .bashrc.
  2. Save.
  3. Close the terminal currently used, and then open a new terminal.
  4. While inside a folder that is tracked by git, type gitlogr to see the commit history.
  5. Exit the commit history view by pressing q.
alias gitlogr="git log --all --graph --decorate --oneline --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset'"