- Link: python.plainenglish
- Author: Abhijit Paul
- , Publication date: June 17, 2023
What Is Git?
It is a open source, high-quality distributed version control system suitable for tracking modifications in source code in software development. It was originally created as an open-source system for coordinating tasks among programmers, but today it is widely used to track changes in any set of files. The key objectives of Git are as follows:
- Speed and efficiency
- Data integrity
- Support for distributed and non-linear workflows
What Is GitHub?
It is a web-based Git repository. This hosting service has cloud-based storage. GitHub offers all distributed version control and source code management functionality of Git while adding its own features. It makes it easier to collaborate using Git.
GitHub is a collaboration and version control platform for storing and managing code. Using this tool, you can collaborate with others on projects from anywhere.
I have been using Git & Github for couple of years by now for my personal projects as well as corporate ones.
This cheat sheet features the most important and commonly used Git commands for easy references.
SETUP
Configuring user information used across all local repositories.
git config --global user.name "[firstname lastname]"
set a name that is identifiable for credit when review version history
git config --global user.email "[valid-email]"
set an email address that will be associated with each history marker
git config --global color.ui auto
set automatic command line coloring for Git for easy reviewing
SETUP & INIT
Configuring user information, initializing and cloning repositories
git init
initialize an existing directory as a Git repository
git clone [url]
retrieve an entire repository from a hosted location via URL
STAGE & SNAPSHOT
Working with snapshots and the Git staging area.
git status
show modified files in working directory, staged for your next commit
git add [file]
add a file as it looks now to your next commit (stage) [copy the entire relative path as displayed after running git status]
git reset [file]
unstage a file while retaining the changes in working directory
git diff
diff of what is changed but not staged
git diff --cached
diff of what is staged but not yet commited
git diff --name-only --cached
If you want to see only the file names, then run the same command with the name-only option
git commit -m "[descriptive message]"
commit your staged content as a new commit snapshot
BRANCH & MERGE
Isolating work in branches, changing context, and integrating changes
git branch
list your all branches. A * will appear next to the currently active branch
git branch [branch-name]
create a new branch at the current commit
git checkout -b [branch-name]
switch to another branch and check it out into your working directory
git switch [branch-name]
switch to another branch without any checkouts
git merge [branch]
merge the specified branch’s history into the current one
INSPECT & COMPARE
Examining logs, diffs and object information
git log
show the commit history for the currently active branch
git log --graph --format=format:'%C(bold blue)%h%C(reset) - %C(bold green)(%ar)%C(reset) %C(white)%an%C(reset)%C(bold yellow)%d%C(reset) %C(dim white)- %s%C(reset)' --all
Using --graph and --format we can quickly get a summary view of git commits in our project having more visibility
git log [branchB]..[branchA]
show the commits on branchA that are not on branchB
git log --follow [file]
show the commits that changed file, even across renames
git diff [branchB]…[branchA]
show the diff of what is in branchA that is not in branchB
git show [SHA]
show any object in Git in human-readable format
TRACKING PATH CHANGES
Versioning file removes and path changes
git rm [file]
delete the file from project and stage the removal for commit
git mv [existing-path] [new-path]
change an existing file path and stage the move
git log --stat -M
show all commit logs with indication of any paths that moved
git clean
Removes untracked files from the working directory.
SHARE & UPDATE
Retrieving updates from another repository and updating local repos
git remote add [alias] [url]
add a git URL as an alias
git fetch [alias]
fetch down all the branches from that Git remote
git merge [alias]/[branch]
merge a remote branch into your current branch to bring it up to date
git push [alias] [branch]
Transmit local branch commits to the remote repository branch
git pull
fetch and merge any commits from the tracking remote branch
REWRITE HISTORY
Rewriting branches, updating commits and clearing history
git rebase [branch]
apply any commits of current branch ahead of specified one
git reset --hard [commit]
clear staging area, rewrite working tree from specified commit
TEMPORARY COMMITS
Temporarily store modified, tracked files in order to change branches
git stash
Save modified and staged changes
git stash list
list stack-order of stashed file changes
git stash pop
write working from top of stash stack
git stash drop
discard the changes from top of stash stack
IGNORING PATTERNS using .gitignore
Preventing unintentional staging or committing of files
logs/ *.notes pattern*/
Save a file with desired patterns as .gitignore with either direct string matches or wildcard globs
git config --global core.excludesfile [file]
system wide ignore pattern for all local repositories
Few important concepts explained…
git merge vs git rebase
When there are changes on the main or master branch that you want to incorporate into your local branch, you can either merge the changes in or rebase your branch from a different point.
merge takes the changes from one branch and merges them into another branch in one merge commit.
git merge origin/main your-local-branch
rebase adjusts the point at which a local branch actually branched off from base branch (i.e. moves the branch to a new starting point from the base branch).
git rebase origin/main your-local-branch
Remember, you’ll use rebase when there are changes in an upstream branch (like main or master) that you want to include in your local branch. You’ll use merge when there are changes in a local branch that you want to put back into main or master.
hint: its remote counterpart. Integrate the remote changes (e.g.
hint: 'git pull ...') before pushing again.
hint: See the 'Note about fast-forwards' in 'git push --help' for details.
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