How to Use Commandline Git for Basic Version Control

Git is a free and open-source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency.

Benefits Of Using Git For Version Control

• Track changes to your code: Git allows you to track changes to your code over time, making it easy to revert to previous versions if necessary.
• Collaborate with others: Git makes it easy to collaborate with others on code projects, allowing multiple developers to work on the same project simultaneously.
• Share your code: Git allows you to easily share your code with others, making it a great tool for open-source projects.

Basic Git Commands

To get started with Git, you'll need to install it on your computer. Once you've installed Git, you can use the following commands to manage your Git repository:

Initializing A Git Repository

To initialize a Git repository, use the following command:

git init

Adding Files To The Staging Area

To add files to the staging area, use the following command:

git add .

Committing Changes To The Repository

To commit changes to the repository, use the following command:

git commit -m "Your commit message"

Viewing The History Of Commits

To view the history of commits, use the following command:

git log

Branching And Merging

To create a new branch, use the following command:

git branch new-branch

To merge a branch into another branch, use the following command:

git merge new-branch

Resolving Conflicts

If you have conflicts when merging branches, you can resolve them using the following command:

git mergetool

Advanced Git Commands

Once you've mastered the basics of Git, you can start using some of the more advanced commands. These commands allow you to do things like clone repositories, push changes to a remote repository, and create and manage tags.

Cloning A Repository

To clone a repository, use the following command:

git clone https://github.com/username/repository

Pushing Changes To A Remote Repository

To push changes to a remote repository, use the following command:

git push origin master

Pulling Changes From A Remote Repository

To pull changes from a remote repository, use the following command:

git pull origin master

Creating And Managing Tags

To create a tag, use the following command:

git tag -a v1.0 -m "Version 1.0"

To list all tags, use the following command:

git tag

Using Git Hooks

Git hooks allow you to run custom scripts when certain events occur, such as when a commit is made or a branch is created. To create a Git hook, create a file in the .git/hooks directory with the name of the event you want to hook into. For example, to create a hook that runs when a commit is made, you would create a file called commit-msg in the .git/hooks directory.

Best Practices For Using Git

To get the most out of Git, it's important to follow some best practices. These best practices include:

• Keeping your commits small and focused: This will make it easier to track changes and revert to previous versions if necessary.
• Using descriptive commit messages: This will help you and other developers understand what changes were made in each commit.
• Regularly pushing your changes to a remote repository: This will protect your work in case your local computer fails.
• Using branches for different features or tasks: This will help you keep your code organized and avoid conflicts when merging changes.
• Resolving conflicts promptly: Conflicts can cause problems if they're not resolved quickly, so it's important to resolve them as soon as possible.

Git is a powerful tool that can help you manage your code projects more effectively. By following the tips in this article, you can learn how to use Git to track changes to your code, collaborate with others, and share your code with the world.