What you will learn
- Understand the three trees
- Make clean commits
- Push and pull
New to this? Start here
The basics, in plain English
Git is a time machine and a save system for code. As you work, it records snapshots of your files so you can go back, see what changed, and work with others without overwriting each other. A snapshot is called a commit.
- Version control
- A system that tracks every change to your files over time so nothing is lost.
- Git
- The most popular version control tool, used by nearly every software team.
- Repository (repo)
- A project folder that Git is tracking, including its full history.
- Commit
- A saved snapshot of your files at one moment, with a short note about what changed.
- Staging
- A waiting area where you pick which changes go into the next commit.
- Push / pull
- Push uploads your commits to a shared server; pull downloads others’ commits.
01
Three trees
Working directory, staging area (index), and repository. git add moves to staging, git commit records a snapshot.
Try it yourself
bash
$git status↳See what has changed and what is staged.$git add -p↳Review and stage changes one chunk at a time.$git commit -m "feat: add health check"↳Save the staged changes with a clear message.$git push origin main↳Upload your commits to the main branch on the remote.↳ lines explain what each command does — only the commands get copied
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