Download and install Git from: https://git-scm.com
# Set global username and email
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"
# Verify configuration
git config --list
.gitconfig
file.# Create a folder for your project
mkdir my-project
cd my-project
# Initialize a Git repository
git init
git init creates an empty Git
repository in your project folder..git folder is created to
store all version control data.# Add a new file
echo "Hello, Git!" > hello.txt
# Stage the file (add it to the commit)
git add hello.txt
# Commit the file with a message
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git add.git commit.# Check the status of your repository
git status
# View commit history
git log
git status shows which files are
staged, modified, or untracked.git log displays the history of
commits in your project.# Create a new branch
git branch feature-branch
# Switch to the new branch
git checkout feature-branch
# Create and switch in one command
git checkout -b new-branch
git checkout switches between
branches.# Switch to the main branch
git checkout main
# Merge the feature branch into main
git merge feature-branch
# Add a remote repository
git remote add origin https://github.com/username/repository.git
# Push changes to the remote repository
git push -u origin main
git push uploads local changes to
the remote repository.# Pull changes from the remote repository
git pull origin main
# Clone an existing repository
git clone https://github.com/username/repository.git
<<<<<<< HEAD
Your local changes
=======
Incoming changes from the other branch
>>>>>>> feature-branch
git add <filename>
git commit -m "Resolved merge conflict in <filename>"
# Create a .gitignore file
touch .gitignore
# Ignore files
node_modules/
*.log
.DS_Store
.gitignore specifies files or
directories that Git should not track.# Save your uncommitted changes
git stash
# Apply stashed changes
git stash pop
# Discard unstaged changes
git checkout -- <file>
# Reset staged changes
git reset <file>
git reset removes changes from the
staging area.git checkout reverts a file to its
last committed state.# Create an annotated tag
git tag -a v1.0 -m "Release version 1.0"
# Push tags to remote
git push origin v1.0
# Revert the last commit
git revert HEAD
git revert creates a new commit
that undoes changes made in a previous commit.Rebasing rewrites commit history:
git rebase main
Modify commits interactively:
git rebase -i HEAD~3
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
git init |
Initialize a new repository |
git add <file> |
Stage changes |
git commit -m "message" |
Commit staged changes |
git status |
Show working directory status |
git log |
View commit history |
git branch <name> |
Create a new branch |
git checkout <branch> |
Switch to a branch |
git merge <branch> |
Merge a branch |
git remote add <name> URL |
Add a remote repository |
git push |
Push changes to a remote repository |
git pull |
Fetch and merge changes from remote |
git clone <URL> |
Clone a repository |
.gitignore to exclude
unnecessary files.Submodules allow you to include another Git repository as a part of your project. This is useful when you’re working with shared libraries or external repositories.
# Add a submodule to your repository
git submodule add https://github.com/example/shared-library.git libs/shared-library
# Clone a repository with submodules
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/username/repository.git
# Update all submodules
git submodule update --remote
# Initialize submodules (if cloning an existing repo)
git submodule init
git submodule update
git submodule update --remote
fetches the latest changes in the submodule.Cherry-picking allows you to select specific commits from one branch and apply them to another.
# Cherry-pick a single commit
git cherry-pick <commit-hash>
# Cherry-pick multiple commits
git cherry-pick <commit-hash1> <commit-hash2>
Squashing combines multiple commits into one, keeping the history cleaner.
# Rebase interactively for the last 3 commits
git rebase -i HEAD~3
pick to
squash for commits you want to merge.
git blame identifies who last modified
each line in a file.
# Show blame for a file
git blame <filename>
Reflog is a log of all actions in the repository, including references to commits that might have been “lost.”
# View the reflog
git reflog
# Reset to a previous state
git reset --hard <reflog-hash>
git bisect is used to find the commit
that introduced a bug by performing a binary search through your commit history.
# Start a bisect session
git bisect start
# Mark the current commit as bad
git bisect bad
# Mark a known good commit
git bisect good <commit-hash>
# Follow the prompts to identify the bad commit
Hooks allow you to execute custom scripts at different points in the Git workflow (e.g., before committing, after merging).
Create a file in
.git/hooks/pre-commit:
#!/bin/sh
# A simple script to prevent commits with TODO comments
if grep -r "TODO" .; then
echo "Error: Found TODO comments in the code!"
exit 1
fi
Make the hook executable:
chmod +x .git/hooks/pre-commit
.git/hooks and are not shared with the repository.
A worktree allows you to have multiple working directories associated with the same repository. This is helpful when working on multiple branches simultaneously.
# Create a new worktree for a branch
git worktree add ../feature-worktree feature-branch
# List all worktrees
git worktree list
# Remove a worktree
git worktree remove ../feature-worktree
# Soft reset (keep changes staged)
git reset --soft HEAD~1
# Hard reset (remove all changes)
git reset --hard HEAD~1
# Revert a specific commit
git revert <commit-hash>
# Restore a specific file to its last committed state
git checkout -- <filename>
reset: Moves the
HEAD pointer to a previous commit.revert: Creates a
new commit that undoes changes in a specific commit.checkout: Restores
files or switches branches.Tags are used to mark important milestones (e.g., releases).
# Annotated tag with a message
git tag -a v1.0 -m "Version 1.0 release"
# Lightweight tag
git tag v1.0-light
# Push all tags
git push --tags
# Push a specific tag
git push origin v1.0
# Show differences between branches
git diff main feature-branch
# Compare two commits
git diff <commit1> <commit2>
git diff displays differences
between files or commits.# Set up a custom alias
git config --global alias.co checkout
git config --global alias.ci commit
git config --global alias.br branch
# Use the alias
git co main
squash and rebase for a tidy history.
git push --force when absolutely necessary.