Git and github blog

1. What is git

Git is a version control system, that is used for source code management in software development. A version control, also referred to as source control, is the practice of tracking and managing changes to software code over time in the software development process. Version control helps to track any changes made in the code and in a special kind of database. Any mistake that is made, developers can turn back the clock and compare ealier versions of the code to help fix the mistake while at the same time minimizing disruption to the other developers.

There are other types of version control in existence include:

Gitlab
Bitbucket
Subversion
SVN
Centralized version control and,
Distributed version control.

In this blog, my focus will be on Git and Github as a control version.

2. Installing git

Before you begin to use Git, first check whether is installed in your machine. To check if Git is installed in your machine type the command git in your command prompt. If you see git usage screen then it is already installed.
If Git is not installed in your local machine, follow this link to the official website and download Git for your respective operating system Download Gitand install it.
To check if Git has been installed and its version, type the command git --version as shown in the below.

Image showing the results of the command git --version

fig:- How to check the version of Git installed in your local machine.

3. Configuring Git

Git comes with a tool called git config that lets you get and set configuration variables such as (user email address and user name) that control all aspects of how Git looks and operates. The git config command is used to set Git configuration values on a global or local project.
Run the command below to configure your email address as follows.

fig:- How to configure users email address.
To configure your user name, type the commands shown below.

fig:- How to configure users name.
If any error is made when configuring either the user name or the email address, you can rewrite the command with the correct user name or email address. The previously written name or email address will be overwritten with the correct one.
Notably, you can check the configured name or email address using the commands as follows:

fig:- How to check configured name on command prompt.
Checking email address

fig:- How to check configured email address on command prompt.

4. Intializing a Git repository

A Git repository is a central storage location for managing and tracking changes in files and directories. Itis a crucial component of Git verson control which enable collaborative development and facilitating efficient and controlled code management. A Git repository stores all the versions of files within a project, enabling developers to track changes, collaborate, and easily revert to previous versions if needed.

Steps on how to initialize a git repository.

Create a folder in your local disk for storing project files.
Open the command prompt from the folder.
Check if the folder is already inintialized for git. Type the command git status in the command prompt as shown below.

Checking if a folder has been initialized to be a git repository.

fig:- How to check the status of a repository, if it is already a git repository or not.

If it show the message No commits yet, initialize enter the command git init to initialize the folder as a git repository. All the files involved in the project should be stored in this folder for tracking changes and errors made.

Initializing a folder to be a git repository.

fig:- Command to initialize a git repository.

5. Adding files to the staging area

What is a staging area?

Git staging area is an intermediate are that stores changes to tracked files before they are committed to the repository. You can add or remove files from the staging area to control which changes are included in the next commit.
You an add or remove files to the staging area to determine which files you want to push to the repository.
You can add a single file at an instance to the staging area using the command git add filename. as demostrated below.

fig:- How to add a single file to the staging area.
To add more the one file to the staging area at an instance, using the dot (.) operator in the add command as follows. git add .

fig:- How to add many files to the staging area using the dot (.) operator.
Subsequently, you can remove files from the staging area using the git rm --cached filepath command.
For example, to remove the file textFile1.txt as shown below.

fig:- How to remove a file from the staging area.

6. Commiting changes.

The command git commit is used to save all staged changes, along with a brief descripiton from the user, in a commit to the local repository.
A commit basically acts as a snapshot of your project, where a new version of that projecy is created in the current repository.
The -m option stands for a message. When calling the git commit command it is crucial to include a description of the changes being committed. The message should be wrapped in quotations (" ").
git commit -m "commit message"

Tracking commit history

The command git log is used to display all the commits in a repository's history. It helps developers list the project history, filter it, and search for a specific changes.

fig:- Using git log command to list the history all commits.

The commands git log --oneline is used to condence the lengthy git log output into a single line, well formatted output of the commits. The command only displays the commit ID and the first line of the commit message as shown below.

Shortened output of git log in a single line

fig:- Git log shortened output using git log --oneline

The --amend option allows you to change your last commit message. Example below.

How to change incorrect commit message using the --ammend option.

fig:- How to change an error made in a commit using --amend option.

You can revert back to a previous commit message using the git revert commitID. This command figures out how to reverse the changes created by that specific commit, then append a new commit containing the new inversed content.

How to revert back to a previous commit.

fig:- Using git revert commitID to revert back to a previously made commit to revert changes.

Guideliness on how to write a good commit messages.

Obey the 50-character limit for the subject line.
Capitalize just the first letter in the subject line.
Do not place a period at the end of the subject line.
Place a blank line between the subject line and the body of the message.
Limit the message body width to 72 characters.
Explain what was done and why it was done, but not how it was done.

7. Branches

In Git, a branch is a new separate versionof the main repository. Branches allow working on different parts of the project, such as fixing a specific error in a file. without interfering with the main branch. When the work on the newly created branch is complete, the branch is merged with the main project to implement the changes made.
Branching means you diverge from the main line of development and continue to do work without messing with that main line.

9. Viewing all branches

To view all the branches locally in repository, run the command git branch. The branch that will have an asterick and fairly a different color from the rest indicated the current branch. Example

fig:- To view branches locally in the repository.

To see remote branches. Run command git branch -r

fig:- Command to view branches in the remote repository

To see branches both locally and remote, run the command git branch -a

fig:- Command to view branches both in remote and local repository all together.

11. Merging a branch

Basically, Git merge command will help to combine the changes from two or more branches into a single branch.
Note: First, you must check out the branch that you want to merge another branch into (changes will be merged into this branch).
To merge, run command git merge branchName

fig:- Command to merge branches together.

Recommendation.

I higly appreciate you for the dedication of your time to read through my blog. I hope it was informative and of help to you. If there is a concept that I might have left out, or you need some more clarification on a concept, I would recommend you to visit Git documentation for more guidance. I would also recommend you to interact with other control version I had listed above to have some deeper insights and understanding on version control and the tools used to achieve this.
Thank you.

Everyday git