Basic Git Tutorial

Commands

git status

Displays the status of the repository, indicating whether a file has been changed or deleted, for example. Or, whether a new file has been added that Git is not aware of.

git clone git@REMOTE_HOST:USER/REPO.git

Clones REPO belonging to USER from REMOTE_HOST. For example, git clone git@github.com:code-warrior/dockspacer.git clones the dockspacer repository belonging to user code-warrior from the github.com remote host, which happens to be a web site, to your local computer.

git checkout -b hotfix

Creates a new branch named hotfix and switches to it.

git diff

Displays the changes made to one or more files that has not been added to the staging area, also known as the index.

git diff --cached

Displays the changes made to one or more files that has been added to the staging area/index, but has/have not been committed.

git add .

Adds the current directory (.) to the staging area/index.

git commit -m 'YOUR MESSAGE HERE'

Commits the changes in the staging area/index to the repository with the message (-m) YOUR MESSAGE HERE. The message must be wrapped in inch marks ("") or foot marks (''), and the convention is to keep the message under 60 characters.

git pull

Fetches the changes from the remote repository, then merges them into the local repository.

git push

Pushes and merges your local changes to a remote repository.

Command Prompt

Authored by Shawn Pearce, the Git-based prompt I use provides some useful information about the current state of the Git repository without having to issue a command. An explanation of some of its icon characters follows. You can read more about the project on GitHub.

(master)

You’re on the master branch, which is local and does not exchange files with a remote branch.

(dev <>) or (dev=)

You’re on the dev branch, which exchanges files with a remote branch.

(master %<>) or (master %=)

You’re on the master branch that exchanges files with a remote branch (<> or =) and contains a file or a folder with new files that is not being tracked (%).

(dev *<>) or (dev *=)

You’re on the dev branch that exchanges files with a remote branch (<> or =) and contains one or more files that have been modified (*) in the working directory but have not been committed to the staging area, or index.

(master +<>) or (master +=)

You’re on the master branch that exchanges files with a remote branch (<> or =) and contains one or more files that have been placed in the staging area/index (+) and are ready to be committed. This is the result of having issued the git add . command or the like.

(dev>)

You’re on the dev branch that contains changes not pushed to the remote branch (>).

(master $)

You’re on the master branch that contains stashed changes. This is the result of having carried out the git stash command.

Messages

The following means you’re issuing Git commands within a folder/directory that is not under Git control.

fatal: Not a git repository (or any of the parent directories): .git