Understanding Git: A Short Guide

Introduction

Git is a powerful version control system that plays a crucial role in modern software development. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore key concepts and best practices associated with Git.

Git Basics

What is Git?

Git is a distributed version control system that enables collaboration and tracking of changes in software projects.

Key Components

• Working Directory: The area where you make changes to your files.
• Staging Area (Index): A middle ground to selectively prepare changes for the next commit.
• Commit: Captures staged changes and stores them in the version history.

Git Workflow

Staging Changes

Staging changes allows for:

• Selective committing.
• Reviewing changes before making them permanent.
• Creating atomic commits for better version history readability.

Example workflow:

# Make changes to files
# ...

# Stage specific changes
git add file1.js

# Stage all changes
git add .

# Commit the changes
git commit -m "Your commit message"

If there are changes in the remote repository that you need to incorporate into your local branch, use:

git pull origin your_branch_name