Gain a thorough understanding of how a Git repository works and learn how to initialize one using terminal commands. This knowledge is essential for a career in web development, data science, and more.
Key Insights
- A Git repository, or repo, contains all of a project's files and the entire revision history.
- To make a folder into a Git repository, you instruct Git to make it a repository, which creates a .git subfolder for tracking changes.
- The .git subfolder might be hidden on Unix-based operating systems like macOS, but it can be viewed in some code editors.
- To initialize a Git repo, navigate to the desired folder via terminal and enter the command "git init".
- Knowledge of Git repositories is crucial in fields like web development, data science, Python programming, and web design.
- There are a variety of coding courses and bootcamps available that offer hands-on learning and step-by-step instruction through real-world exercises.
Essential Git Commands
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git status
What's changed, staged, and untracked — your most-used command.
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git diff
See exactly what's different before staging.
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git log
Inspect commit history with --oneline or --graph for visualization.
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git reset
Undo staging or commits — careful with --hard.
A Git repository (or repo for short) contains all of the project les and the entire revision history. You’ll take an ordinary folder of les (such as a website’s root folder), and tell Git to make it a repository. This creates a.Git subfolder, which contains all of the Git metadata for tracking changes.
On Unix-based operating systems such as macOS, les and folders that start with a period (.) are hidden, so you will not see the.Git folder in the macOS Finder unless you show hidden les, but it’s there! You might be able to see it in some code editors.
TIP: On macOS you can show or hide invisible les by hitting Cmd–Shift-Period(.)
Initialize a Git Repo
In your terminal (Terminal, Git Bash, or Windows Command Prompt), navigate to the folder you wish to make into a Git repo.
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Enter this command:
Git init
Go Beyond Git
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