git and Github
git
git is a version control system
Commonly used by large code development projects to track and commit
changes/additions to the codebase.
Written by Linus Torvalds to manage the Linux kernel project
Other version control systems
cvs -- Concurrent Versioning System
svn -- Subversion
hg -- Mercurial
Creating a repository
In the directory that contains the les you want to track, type:
> git init
That’s it!
Adding les to the repository
git doesn’t assume that all les in the directory should be committed to the repository, you must
add them. To get a listing of both tracked and untracked les.
> git status
To add a le, (e.g. [Link]) to the repository index
> git add [Link]
To add all les in a directory.
> git add .
Committing
Once you have added les to the index and your ready to save a “snapshot” of your repository,
perform a commit
> git commit -m 'a commit message'
Leave o the -m and your $EDITOR will open for you to include a longer commit message. To
commit all modi ed les already tracked in the repository without explicitly using git add use
the -a option
> git commit -a -m 'a commit message'
Good commit messages
Long(er) commit message example
Short (50 chars or less) summary of changes.
More detailed explanatory text, if necessary. Wrap it at 72 characters.
The first line is treated as the subject of an email and the rest of the
text as the body. The blank line separating the summary from the body
is critical.
Write your commit message in the present tense: "Fix bug" and not
"Fixed bug."
Further paragraphs come after blank lines.
* Bullet points are okay, too
* Typically a hyphen or asterisk is used for the bullet, preceded by a
single space, with blank lines in between
Excluding les
Put les you don’t want to appear in the status listing in a le named .gitignore
Example .gitignore le
# Ignore emacs backup files:
*~
# Ignore everything in the docs directory:
docs
Removing les from git
To remove a le (e.g., [Link]) from your repository use
> git rm [Link]
This removes [Link] completely from your disk, same as regular UNIX rm
If you only want to remove a le from the git repository, but leave it in your working directory
use:
> git rm --cached [Link]
Going back in time (reverting)
To go back to the previous commit
> git revert HEAD
To go back three commits
> git revert HEAD~3
To go back to a speci c commit
> git revert daa8d81f
The daa8d81f is a hash string that identi es the commit, it can be seen with git log
Going back while trashing changes
To permanently trash your changes and get back the most recent commit
> git reset --hard HEAD
To get back a previous commit and trash all commits that happened after
> git reset --hard daa8d81f
If you only want to reset one le (e.g., [Link])
> git checkout [Link]
Cloning remote repositories
To clone remote (not local to your machine) repositories and create a local working copy for
your own modi cation use git clone, e.g.,
> git clone git://[Link]/johntfoster/[Link] ~/.vim
Will clone my dotvim repository to a folder in ~ named .vim This repository becomes local, i.e.
you can make changes and local commits.
To stay "in sync"
> git pull origin master
origin is the default remote repo name and master is the default branch name.
Pushing to remote repositories
To push changes to a remote repository, any local changes must be rst commited locally as
usual:
git commit -am "A commit message."
The push to the remote repository with
git push origin master
Advanced features
Branching
Merging
Github
[Link]
Cloud based remote repository server
Unlimited public repositories
Private repositories available (educational plans for free)
Teams/Organizations
Integrated "Pull request" and code review system
Similar services
[Link]
[Link]
