Git Basics: A Quick Reference

Git is a widely used version control system (VCS) that allows developers to manage changes to their own files and collaborate with others. It has become an essential tool for managing large scale projects.

This post is designed to give a brief overview of the most common git commands. If nothing else, it should serve as a quick reference. Practice makes perfect. The best way to learn is to actually execute the below commands on your computer as you go along, at least that is how I learn.

Installation

To get started, you will need a working Git installation. You can download it here.

Open a new command prompt and run git --version. It should output the git version you just downloaded, the latest one being git version 2.6.4.

Basics

Below is all you need to start using Git to manage your own small projects and files.

Create a Git repository in the current folder
View status of each file in a repository
Stage new changes for commit
Commit the staged changes along with a descriptive message
View commit history

git init
git status
git add <file>
git commit -m "descriptive message"
git log

Undo Changes

A VCS is useless if it cannot undo committed and untracked changes to a file or project.

View a previous commit
Undo a commit by applying a new commit
Delete untracked files
Reset to match the most recent commit without staging the tracked changes for a commit
Permanently undo uncommitted changes

git checkout <commit-id>
git revert <commit-id>
git clean -f
git reset --hard
git reset --hard/git clean -f

Branches

In Git, a branch is an independent line of development, which allows developers to experiment with their own projects and collaborate with others.

Create a new branch using the current directory as its base
Navigate to a branch
Merge a branch into the current (checked-out) branch
Delete a branch. Note: checkout into separate branch in order to delete a specified branch
Show all branches

git branch <branch-name>
git checkout <branch-name>
git merge <branch-name>
git branch -d <branch-name>
git branch

Remotes

A Git remote repository lives on a server. It could be your repository or someone else’s. You can push changes to it as well as pull changes from it to update your local repository. Remotes are how teams and developers collaborate with each other.

Create a copy of a remote Git repository in your local machine
List all remote repositories
Add a remote repository to your Git repository
Once added, download information from the remote branch without merging anything
Merge a remote branch into the checked-out branch
Show all remote branches

git clone <remote-path>
git remote
git remote add <remote-name>
git fetch <remote-name>
git merge <remote-name>
git branch -r

There is a lot more to Git. Again, this post is merely to serve as a quick reference