Hello readers! As a developer advances and starts to work on more complex projects, they find version control indispensable for maintaining their code effectively. The aim of VCS is not only to track changes but also to facilitate collaborative work. Among various VCS tools, Git stands out as the most widely used, especially in open-source and collaborative projects. In this article, we explore Git and explain how it can streamline your workflow.
What is Version Control?
Version control is a system that assists developers in tracking changes to their codebase over time. It keeps a record of every modification so that, in case something goes wrong, developers can easily revert back in time, see the history of changes, and collaborate on code with other team members without accidentally overwriting another team member’s changes.
There are two kinds of version control:
- Centralized Version Control Systems (CVCS) – Where version history is kept in a central server, accessed by clients (e.g., Subversion, CVS).
- Distributed Version Control Systems (DVCS) – Where each developer has a full clone of project history, examples include Git and Mercurial.
Git is a Distributed Version Control System. That means every developer’s computer that has a copy of the project checked out will actually be hosting a full repository. This, along with being distributed, gives Git its power and flexibility, especially with teams.
Why Git?
Git has become a de facto VCS for many developers due to the high-speed performance, scalability, and support for Distributed Development. Why do people love Git so much?
- Distributed: Every developer has a complete copy of the repository, allowing for offline access and backup.
- Efficient Branching: Git makes the creation and merging of branches straightforward; hence, multiple features or bug fixes can be developed in parallel.
- Huge Ecosystem: Its popularity has created a very big community providing extensive documentation, tutorials, and integrations like GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket.
Key Concepts in Git
To understand how Git works, here are a few concepts you need to know:
1. Repository
A Git repository, or repo, is where the history of your project is kept. You either initialize a repository in an existing project via git init, or you clone a remote repository via git clone <url>.
2. Commits
A commit is basically a snapshot of your project at a point in time. Each commit has modifications you’ve made and must be accompanied with a message as to what you’ve done: git commit -m "Your message here". Git keeps track of each commit and their history so, if need be, you can roll back to a previous one.
3. Branches
Branches allow you to work in isolation on a feature, bug fix, or experiment and later include their changes if you want to. If you want to include those changes, you can merge that branch back into the main project. By default, Git will automatically create a default branch for you named one of main or master. You create a new branch with git branch <branch-name>.
4. Combining
Merging merges changes from one branch into another. Developers will often merge feature branches into the main when they are ready for production. Use git merge <branch> to bring the changes into your current branch.
5. Pull Requests (PR)
Generally speaking, pull requests in a collaborative workflow are the proposed set of changes to a repository that is created by developers. Other developers will review the code and decide to either approve the code and merge it into the main project.
Essential Git Commands
A list of the most frequently used Git commands and their uses is as follows:
git init: Initializes a new Git repository.git clone <url>: Clones a remote repository into your machine.git add <file>: Stages changes for commit.git commit -m "message": Captures a snapshot of the project with description.git push: Pushes your changes to a remote repository.git pull: Fetches updates from a remote repository and instantly merges those changes into the current branch.git branch: Lists or creates branches.git checkout <branch>: Switches to another branch.git merge <branch>: Merges another branch into your current branch.
Works Cited
- Puntillo, Tom. “What Is Git?” Medium, 15 June 2021, https://medium.com/@tom.puntillo/what-is-git-c150dee640a.
- Saxena, Kunal. “What Is Git and How to Use It?” freeCodeCamp, 6 Nov. 2019, https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/what-is-git-and-how-to-use-it-c341b049ae61/.
- Kimmel, Markus. “The Basics of Git.” CODE Magazine, Jan./Feb. 2022, https://codemag.com/Article/2201021/The-Basics-of-Git.