Git is a popular version control system, used to track changes in source code and support collaboration across teams of developers. While it’s primarily used in software development, Git can be used to track changes in any type of computer file.
Git was originally created for use in the development of the Linux operating system, but is now supported on Windows, Mac OS and other popular platforms. Git is open source and free to use.
Once installed, Git is used through the command line, via a Windows Command Prompt or Terminal in Mac OS.
The following is a list of common commands you can use to try out some of Git’s core features.
git config
This command configures values for variables such as a user name, email address, gpg key, file formats, and more.
git config --global user.name "My Username" git config --global user.email "user@example.com"
git init
Creates a new git repository, in a new or existing project.
git init Initialized empty Git repository in /home/user_name/GIT/.git/
git pull
Fetches files from the remote repository and merges with your working directory.
git pull origin
git push
Sends locally created and stored changes to the remote repository, before advancing the branch.
git push origin master
git clone
Creates a copy of an existing git repository from a remote location. The command also adds the remote location so it can be accessed in the future.
git clone git@github.com:user/mytest.git
git add
Adds file changes from your local working directory to your index.
git add .
git rm
Removes files from your git index and working directory, ensuring that subsequent changes will not be tracked.
git rm myfile.doc
git commit
Creates a new commit object pointing to changes made in your index, then sets the branch to point to the new commit.
git commit -m ‘committing added changes’ git commit -a -m ‘committing all changes, equals to git add and git commit’
git status
Compares and displays the status of files held in the index with those held in your working directory. The command lists files that are currently untracked (stored only in your working directory and not in the index), modified (tracked, but not yet updated in the index) and staged (added to the index, ready for committing).
git status # On branch master # # Initial commit # # Untracked files: # # (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed) #
git remote
Displays all remote versions of your repository.
git remote origin
git branch
Lists existing git branches. Use the -a parameter to also list remote branches. The command creates a new branch if a name is provided.
git branch -a * master remotes/origin/master
git merge
Merges one or more branches into your current branch. The command also automatically creates a new commit if there are no conflicts.
git merge newbranchversion
git gc
Used to optimize and tidy your git repository.
git gc Counting objects: 8, done. Delta compression using up to 2 threads. Compressing objects: 100% (5/5), done. Writing objects: 100% (8/8), done. Total 8 (delta 1), reused 0 (delta 0)
git prune
Removes objects that are no longer pointed to by any object in any reachable branch.
git prune
git reset
Resets your working directory and Git index to the state of the last commit.
git reset --hard HEAD
git tag
Adds a tag to a Git commit, allowing easy labeling of versions and other descriptive text.
git tag -a v1.0 -m 'this is version 1.0'
git log
Displays commits on a branch with additional details, such as author and date.
git log commit 64f673e8a0d895bb37ff7da40e294b61a99a2ff Author: User <user@example.com> Date: Sat Jul 23 23:02:23 2015 +0200 first commit
git archive
Creates an archive file (zip or tarball) with the contents of a single tree from your repository.
git archive --format=zip master^ README >file.zip
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