Git Pocket Guide

Preface

What Is Git?

Git is a tool for tracking changes made to a set of files over time, a task traditionally known as “version control.” Although it is most often used by programmers to coordinate changes to software source code, and it is especially good at that, you can use Git to track any kind of content at all. Any body of related files evolving over time, which we’ll call a “project,” is a candidate for using Git. With Git, you can:

• Examine the state of your project at earlier points in time
• Show the differences among various states of the project
• Split the project development into multiple independent lines, called “branches,” which can evolve separately
• Periodically recombine branches in a process called “merging,” reconciling the changes made in two or more branches
• Allow many people to work on a project simultaneously, sharing and combining their work as needed

…and much more.

There have been many different version control systems developed in the computing world, including SCCS, RCS, CVS, Subversion, BitKeeper, Mercurial, Bazaar, Darcs, and others. Some particular strengths of Git are:

• Git is a member of the newer generation of distributed version control systems. Older systems such as CVS and Subversion are centralized, meaning that there is a single, central copy of the project content and history to which all users must refer. Typically accessed over a network, if the central copy is unavailable for some reason, all users are stuck; they cannot use version control ...