This essential read will illuminate the path to version control and equip you with the knowledge you need to elevate your coding game.
Installing Git
- Install git from git-scm.
- Run
git --versionto verify that it is installed.
Creating a new repository with github
git init
git add . # tracks all the files
git status
git commit -m "commit message here"
git status
git branch -M main
git remote add origin git@github.com:my_username/my_repo_name.git
git push -u origin main-
Initialize a git repository, run
git init. -
Track all the files in the repository by running
git add .. -
Commit the changes by running
git commit -am "commit message here". This captures a snapshot of the repository at it's current stage. -
Push the changes to the remote repository by running
git push origin main. -
Check the status of the repository by running
git status. If you run this command before committing, you will see a list of files that have been added, modified, or deleted. -
We now have to connect to a remote repository, which is basically a URL to a repository that can be accessed by other people. There are many cloud-based hosting services that let you manage Git repositories, Github being a popular choice. To do this create a new repository in your Github account and create a new repository.
-
Run
git branch -M mainto create a default branch calledmain. -
Add a remote repository to your local repository. To do this run
git remote add origin <remote url>.
git remote add origin git@github.com:<GITHUB_USERNAME>/<GITHUB_REPOSITORY_NAME>.git- Push the changes to the remote repository by running
git push -u origin main. - Check the history of the repository by running
git log --oneline.
Pushing changes to remote repository
git add . # git add file
git commit -m "made a change"
git push origin main- After making changes to the files you can either commit them or stash them.
- Run
git add .to track all the files in the repository. - Commit the changes by running
git commit -am "made a change". This captures a snapshot of the repository at it's current stage. - Push the changes to the remote repository by running
git push origin main.
Commit without message
Git by default does not allow us to commit without a message. To do this we can use the --allow-empty option.
git commit --allow-empty -m ''Removing a file from the repository
Removing .env from the repository and the history.
git rm -r --cached .env
git filter-branch --index-filter "git rm -rf --cached --ignore-unmatch .env" HEAD
git push --force- Add the file(
.envin this case) that is to be removed to .gitignore and remove it from git using git rm. - The file(
.env) still exists in our history and the contents are still visible. We'll have to filter it out of all the branches using git filter-branch.
git filter-branch --index-filter "git rm -rf --cached --ignore-unmatch .env" HEAD- Since we are changing the history of both local and remote repository, we have force push the changes to the remote repository using
git push --force.
You can also have a look at the example show in git docs
Glossary
git stash: It temporarily shelves (or stashes) changes you've made to your working copy so you can work on something else, and then come back and re-apply them. It enables you to switch branches without committing the current branch.
Further reading
- git commands : git documentation
- Pro Git ebook : A book on git
- gitignore.io : generate gitignore files
Some useful questions to think about
- How do I remove a file from the repository and the history?
- How do I get new branch from the remote repository that I have forked?
- What is the difference between git pull and git fetch?
- What should I do if my code is 2 commits behind HEAD?