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An overview of how the Git version control system works.
Video Review
- Git is a version control system. It helps you control the different versions of the files in your project.
- The collection of all the old versions of your project's files is known as a Git repository. It's basically just a folder in which you can edit your files, then run Git commands to store your changes.
- Each time you complete a change to some or all of your project's files, you can take a snapshot of their current contents. These snapshots are known as commits.
- Git is a distributed version control system, as opposed to a centralized system. In a distributed system, you can copy a complete repository with the full project history to every developer's machine.
- Bash is a command shell that runs on many Mac, Linux, and even some Windows computers when you open their terminals.
- Bash prompts usually end in a dollar sign. When you read Git tutorials out on the web, you may see a dollar sign; that usually indicates that the text following it should be typed at a shell prompt.
- When Git is installed on a system, like it is here in this workspace, it places an executable named
gitwhere it can be run from any shell prompt. This is thegitcommand. - All the commands we're going to show you during this course will use this executable, so they're all going to start with
gitfollowed by a space. - Then we need to specify the subcommand or options we want.
- Git command line options consist of either a single dash followed by a single letter, or a double-dash [type
--] followed by a word. -
git --helpwill print out some help on using the Git program.
Common Git subcommands
- The
git cloneandgit initcommands are used to setup new repositories. - The
git add,git status, andgit commitcommands are the most frequently used subcommands in all of Git. They're used when committing new versions of files. - The
git logcommand is also important; it lets you view a list of your old commits. - The
git mvandgit rmcommands move and remove files that are being tracked by Git. We'll learn about those in Stage 2 of this course. - The
git pushandgit pullcommands are used to synchronize commits with Git repositories on other computers. We'll learn about those in Stage 3.
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We've told you that Git can
keep you from losing work and
0:00
that it can help teams
work together on projects.
0:03
But how exactly does it do that?
0:06
Git is a version control system.
0:08
It helps you control the different
versions of the files in your project.
0:10
It keeps track of all the changes
to your files over time.
0:14
If you ask it to, it can reset any files
contents to match a previous version.
0:18
Or, more commonly,
0:23
you can reset the version of all
the project files at the same time.
0:24
The collection of all the old
versions of your projects files
0:28
is known as a Git repository.
0:31
It's basically a folder in
which you can edit your files
0:33
then run Git commands
to store your changes.
0:37
You can have multiple Git repositories
on your computer, one for
0:40
each project you're working on.
0:43
So at this point you may be
thinking Git is just like
0:45
network backup software like Dropbox or
Google Drive, right?
0:48
After all,
0:52
those programs store a new version of
a file every time you save it too.
0:53
But Git is way more powerful
than just making backups.
0:57
For one thing, it's intended to help
developers work together on a project.
1:00
With just a couple commands, you can clone
an entire repository to another computer.
1:05
This clone will include the full
version history of all the files.
1:11
Once they have the files
on their own machine,
1:15
other people can make their own changes.
1:17
And Git includes commands that
let you easily bring changes from
1:19
other people's repositories
back into your repository.
1:23
Each time you complete a change to some or
all of your project's files,
1:26
you can take a snapshot of
their current contents.
1:30
This snapshot represents a point in your
project's history that you might want to
1:33
travel back to some time in the future.
1:37
These snapshots are known as commits.
1:39
Just as you might take a phone number and
commit it to memory so
1:42
you can remember it later, you can commit
a version of your projects files to
1:46
your Git repository, so
you can get that version back later.
1:50
But most version control
programs have features like this.
1:54
Why is Git in particular so popular?
1:57
There is a variety of reasons for
this, but here's an important one.
2:00
Git is a distributed version control
system as opposed to a centralized system.
2:03
In a centralized system, the repository
with all the old versions of files lives
2:08
in only one place, a central server.
2:13
If anything happens to
that central repo and
2:16
you don't have current backups,
all the old versions will be lost.
2:19
In a distributed system,
you can copy a complete repository
2:23
with the full project history
to every developer's machine.
2:26
Commands are available to synchronize
repos with each other as new
2:30
changes are made.
2:33
If anything happens to one of those repos,
2:35
the data in any other repo
can be used to restore it.
2:37
Let’s open up a workspace and
try our first Git command.
2:41
It’s not going to look like much, but
2:44
Git’s plain looking command line
interface hides some major power.
2:46
You’ll see what we mean over
the rest of the course.
2:50
If you’re watching this
video on the Treehouse site,
2:52
there should be a Launch Workspace
button on the page, so click that.
2:55
You'll see a dialog where you can
rename your workspace if you want.
2:59
Click the Launch it
button when you're ready.
3:02
A new window will open with
a Treehouse workspace.
3:05
Give it a minute to load.
3:08
You'll see the sidebar with the list
of files in this workspace, and
3:10
a text editor, but we're not going
to use those much in this course.
3:13
What we want is the console
panel down here at the bottom.
3:17
Let's resize that so we have more room.
3:21
Next, we need to activate the console.
3:25
Click anywhere within the console panel.
3:27
You'll know it's been activated if
a blinking cursor appears down there.
3:29
This is a prompt for Bash,
a command shell that runs on many Mac,
3:33
Linux, and even some Windows computers
when you open their terminals.
3:37
This particular prompt shows
the current username and
3:41
then the name of the directory or
folder that we're currently in.
3:43
It's a directory named workspace,
in this case.
3:46
Bash prompts usually end in a dollar sign.
3:49
When you read Git tutorials out on
the web, you may see a dollar sign.
3:52
That usually indicates that the text
following it should be typed at
3:55
a shell prompt.
3:59
Note that when following along with
a tutorial, you should not actually type
4:00
the dollar sign unless it appears
somewhere in the middle of the command.
4:04
Now we need to run Git.
4:07
Git is installed on a system,
like it is here in this workspcae.
4:09
It places an executable named git where
it should be run from any shell prompt.
4:12
This is the git command.
4:17
All the commands we're going to show
you during this course will use this
4:19
executable.
4:22
So they're all going to start
with git followed by a space.
4:23
Then we need to specify the sub-command or
options we want.
4:26
For this first command,
we're not going to run any sub-commands.
4:29
We're just going to git help
on the git command itself.
4:32
We do this with a command line option.
4:35
Git options consist of either a single
dash followed by a single letter, or
4:38
a double dash followed by a word.
4:42
In this case, we want the help option.
4:45
Once you've typed all that, your
command is complete, so press Enter or
4:48
Return to run it.
4:51
git --help will print out some
help on using the git program.
4:53
By the way,
4:57
it's okay if the output you see doesn't
exactly match what's shown here.
4:57
It just means you're running
a different version of Git than I am.
5:01
All the commands we show in this
course will work the same way
5:04
no matter what version of Git you have.
5:07
The only part of this output that's
really useful to us right now
5:09
is this list of subcommands.
5:12
These are used to invoke most
of Git's basic functionality.
5:14
And we'll be trying out many
of them during this course.
5:17
The git clone and git init commands
are used to set up new repositories.
5:20
The git add, git status, and
5:24
git commit commands are the most
frequently used subcommands in all of Git.
5:26
They're used when committing
new versions of files.
5:30
The git log command is also important.
5:33
It lets you view a list
of your old commands.
5:35
The git move and
git remove commands move and
5:38
remove files that
are being tracked by Git.
5:41
We'll learn about those in
stage two of this course.
5:43
And the git push and git pull commands
are used to synchronize commits with Git
5:46
repositories on other computers.
5:50
We'll learn about those in stage three.
5:52
That's an overview of
the most basic Git commands.
5:54
Up next, we 'll show you how
to create a Git repository.
5:57
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