Git
A distributed version control system
Concepts
commit – save the state of your project (take a snapshot of all files and store a reference to that snapshot)
File States
- unmodified – file has not been changed
- modified – file has been changed but not committed
- staged – file has been marked to go into next commit snapshot
- committed – file stored in database
- untracked – files in your working directory that were not in last snapshot and not in staging
- tracked – files Git knows about: unmodified, modified, and staged file states
Sections of a Git Project
- working – a single checkout of one version of the project
- staging – a file, generally in the Git directory, of information about what goes into the next commit (aka index)
- repository – metadata and database of the project
Git Command Groups
Main Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| add | Add file contents to the index |
| am | Apply a series of patches from a mailbox |
| archive | Create an archive of files from a named tree |
| bisect | Use binary search to find the commit that introduced a bug |
| branch | List, create, or delete branches |
| bundle | Move objects and refs by archive |
| checkout | Switch branches or restore working tree files |
| cherry-pick | Apply the changes introduced by some existing commits |
| citool | Graphical alternative to git-commit |
| clean | Remove untracked files from the working tree |
| clone | Clone a repository into a new directory |
| commit | Record changes to the repository |
| describe | Give an object a human readable name based on an available ref |
| diff | Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc |
| fetch | Download objects and refs from another repository |
| format-patch | Prepare patches for e-mail submission |
| gc | Cleanup unnecessary files and optimize the local repository |
| gitk | The Git repository browser |
| grep | Print lines matching a pattern |
| gui | A portable graphical interface to Git |
| init | Create an empty Git repository or reinitialize an existing one |
| log | Show commit logs |
| maintenance | Run tasks to optimize Git repository data |
| merge | Join two or more development histories together |
| mv | Move or rename a file, a directory, or a symlink |
| notes | Add or inspect object notes |
| pull | Fetch from and integrate with another repository or a local branch |
| push | Update remote refs along with associated objects |
| range-diff | Compare two commit ranges (e.g. two versions of a branch) |
| rebase | Reapply commits on top of another base tip |
| reset | Reset current HEAD to the specified state |
| restore | Restore working tree files |
| revert | Revert some existing commits |
| rm | Remove files from the working tree and from the index |
| scalar | A tool for managing large Git repositories |
| shortlog | Summarize ‘git log’ output |
| show | Show various types of objects |
| sparse-checkout | Reduce your working tree to a subset of tracked files |
| stash | Stash the changes in a dirty working directory away |
| status | Show the working tree status |
| submodule | Initialize, update or inspect submodules |
| switch | Switch branches |
| tag | Create, list, delete or verify a tag object signed with GPG |
| worktree | Manage multiple working trees |
Manipulators
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| config | Get and set repository or global options |
| fast-export | Git data exporter |
| fast-import | Backend for fast Git data importers |
| filter-branch | Rewrite branches |
| mergetool | Run merge conflict resolution tools to resolve merge conflicts |
| pack-refs | Pack heads and tags for efficient repository access |
| prune | Prune all unreachable objects from the object database |
| reflog | Manage reflog information |
| remote | Manage set of tracked repositories |
| repack | Pack unpacked objects in a repository |
| replace | Create, list, delete refs to replace objects |
Interrogators
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| annotate | Annotate file lines with commit information |
| blame | Show what revision and author last modified each line of a file |
| bugreport | Collect information for user to file a bug report |
| count-objects | Count unpacked number of objects and their disk consumption |
| diagnose | Generate a zip archive of diagnostic information |
| difftool | Show changes using common diff tools |
| fsck | Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database |
| gitweb | Git web interface (web frontend to Git repositories) |
| help | Display help information about Git |
| instaweb | Instantly browse your working repository in gitweb |
| merge-tree | Perform merge without touching index or working tree |
| rerere | Reuse recorded resolution of conflicted merges |
| show-branch | Show branches and their commits |
| verify-commit | Check the GPG signature of commits |
| verify-tag | Check the GPG signature of tags |
| version | Display version information about Git |
| whatchanged | Show logs with difference each commit introduces |
User-facing Interfaces
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| attributes | Defining attributes per path |
| cli | Git command-line interface and conventions |
| hooks | Hooks used by Git |
| ignore | Specifies intentionally untracked files to ignore |
| mailmap | Map author/committer names and/or E-Mail addresses |
| modules | Defining submodule properties |
| repository-layout | Git Repository Layout |
| revisions | Specifying revisions and ranges for Git |
External Commands
- askpass
- askyesno
- credential-helper-selector
- credential-manager
- credential-manager-core
- credential-manager-ui
- flow
- lfs
- update-git-for-windows
Also:
- Interactors
- Low-level manipulators
- Low-level interrogators
- Low-level syncing repos
- Developer-facing interfaces