Git Quick Start

Getting Started with Git

In this guide, we'll walk through the steps to install Git, configure user information, create and initialize a Git repository, make your first commit, and use Git to track changes and view logs.

1. Installing Git On Linux:

Before you can use Git, you need to install it on your system.

Linux: On Debian-based distributions (like Ubuntu), you can install Git using:

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install git

To verify the installation:

$ git --version

2. Configuring User Information

After installing Git, you need to configure your user information, such as your name and email address. This information is used to identify the author of the changes in the repository.

Run the following commands to configure Git globally (applies to all repositories):

$ git config --global user.name "Your Name"

$ git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

You can verify the configuration with:

$ git config --list

3. Creating a Git Repository

A Git repository is a directory that contains your project's files along with all the changes and history. You can either create a new repository or clone an existing one.

Creating a New Repository

1. Navigate to your project directory (or create a new directory):

   $ mkdir my-project

   $ cd my-project

2. Initialize the Git repository:

   $ git init

   This command creates a hidden .git directory that contains all the necessary metadata and history for the project.

4. Making Your First Commit

To commit changes, you first need to stage the changes and then commit them to the repository.

1. Create or modify a file in your project directory:

   $ echo "Hello, Git!" > hello.txt

2. Stage the file using the git add command:

   $ git add hello.txt

   This adds the file to the staging area, preparing it for the next commit.

3. Commit the changes with a message describing what was changed:

   $ git commit -m "Initial commit: Added hello.txt"

   This command creates a new snapshot of the staged changes in the repository.

5. Git Tracking and Logs

Git provides powerful tools to track changes in your project and view the commit history.

Tracking Changes

1. View the status of your repository to see which files have changed, are staged, or are untracked:

   $ git status

   This command shows the current state of the working directory and staging area.

2. View changes made to a file:

   $ git diff

   This shows the differences between the working directory and the staging area.

3. Stage and commit changes:

   • Stage specific files:

     $ git add filename.txt

   • Commit the changes with a message:

     $ git commit -m "Updated filename.txt with new changes"

Viewing Commit Logs

Git logs provide a history of commits in the repository.

1. View the commit history:

   $ git log

2. Filter out the log:

   $ git log —author=”user_name”