Minimum Viable Git

Here are nine Git commands that I think you should be familiar with for Minimum Viable Git usage.

git init		creates a new git repo
git add		add something to the staging area for a change
git commit		commits the staged change(s) to the repo
git restore		undoes a change that you've made and restores a prior version
git clone		clones a remote repo into a new local repo
git push		pushes changes from the local repo to a remote repo
git pull		pulls changes to the local repo from a remote repo
git status		show the current status of the local repo
git help		get more information about a command

There are a LOT more Git commands. But I don't think they necessary for Minimum Viable Git usage.

git init

git init creates a new git repo

This is only done once in a repo's lifetime.

git init [directory]

The [directory] is optional and defaults to the current directory [.].

A LOT of people use the following sequence of commands:

mkdir new-git-repo
cd new-git-repo
git init

I am lazy and I prefer to do the following

git init new-git-repo

git add

git add adds something to the staging area for a change

git add notes.txt

To add the current directory [.] do the following:

git add .

You can think of the staging area like a place that you gather things as you prepare to create a commit.

git commit

git commit commits the staged change(s) to the repo

git commit takes the changes that you've staged and packages them up and applies them to the repo in a persistent manner.

git commit

Git will open the commit in your ${EDITOR} of choice where you can provide a commit message. Saving and exiting without error (RC=0) signals to git to do the commit. You can exit without saving (RC!=0) and git will abort the commit.

Optionally, you can specify the commit message on the command line.

git commit -m "adding meeting notes"

Optionally, you can view the contents of the commit with the --verbose (-v) option.

git commit -v 

git restore

git restore undoes a change that you've made and restores a prior version

Git has three primary areas things are placed:

• working tree - the directory you do your work in
• staging area - place things are staged before committing a change
• repo objects - warehouse git stores things

To restore a file from the staging area to the working tree:

git restore notes.txt

To restore a file from the repo to the staging area, use this:

git restore --stage notes.txt 

git clone

git clone clones a remote repo into a new local repo

git clone  [directory]

The [directory] is optional and defaults to a name based on the source repo.

git clone https://git.sluug.org/example.git sluug-example-repo 

git push

git push pushes changes from the local repo to a remote repo

git push [remote]

The [remote] is optional and defaults to where the clone is from.

git pull

git pull pulls changes to the local repo from a remote repo

git pull [remote]

The [remote] is optional and defaults to where it was cloned from.

git status

git status shows the current status of the local repo

git status

git help

git help is a convenient way to get more information.

git help [command]

The [command] is optional. Without the [command] git provides a very brief summary of the most common commands. With the [command] git shows the git-[command] manual page which includes extensive options and details for each [command].

These two commands are equivalent

git help <command>

man git-<command>

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