Top 10 basic Git Command which you must know

This article will help you gain a basic understanding of essential Git commands for your next project. These commands are useful for beginners who are curious about Git. However, before diving into the commands, let's understand some terminology related to Git.

1. Repository (Repo): A storage location for your project, which includes all files and their revision history.

2. Commit: A snapshot of your project files at a particular point in time.

3. Branch: A parallel version of your project, used to work on different features or bug fixes independently.

4. Merge: The process of combining changes from different branches.

5. Remote: A version of your repository hosted on the internet or another network.

   Now, let's explore the top 10 important Git commands:

   1. git init

      • Use: Initializes a new Git repository.

      • Explanation: Creates an empty Git repository or reinitializes an existing one in the specified directory. It sets up all necessary files for tracking changes.

   2. git clone

      • Use: Copies an existing Git repository.

      • Explanation: Creates a clone of a repository in a new directory. It also sets up the remote repository link, so you can easily fetch changes from the original repository.

   3. git add

      • Use: Adds file contents to the staging area.

      • Explanation: Updates the index using the current content found in the working tree, preparing the content for the next commit. It stages changes for a specific file or files.

   4. git commit

      • Use: Records changes to the repository.

      • Explanation: Captures a snapshot of the project's currently staged changes. Stores the snapshot permanently in the version history and moves the HEAD pointer to the new commit.

   5. git status

      • Use: Shows the working directory status.

      • Explanation: Displays the state of the working directory and the staging area. It lets you see which changes have been staged, which haven't, and which files aren't being tracked by Git.

   6. git pull

      • Use: Fetches and integrates changes from a remote repository.

      • Explanation: Retrieves updates from a remote repository and merges them into your current branch. It's a combination of git fetch followed by git merge.

   7. git push

      • Use: Updates remote refs along with associated objects.

      • Explanation: Sends changes from your local repository to a remote repository. Used to share changes with others by uploading commits to a remote repository.

   8. git branch

      • Use: Lists, creates, or deletes branches.

      • Explanation: Manages branches. Listing branches shows all the branches in the repository, creating a branch allows for isolated development, and deleting a branch removes it from the repository.

   9. git checkout

      • Use: Switches branches or restores working tree files.

      • Explanation: Switches to a different branch or restores files in the working directory. Updates the files in the working directory to match the version stored in the specified branch or commit.

   10. git merge

       • Use: Joins two or more development histories together.

       • Explanation: Merges the changes from one branch into another. Integrates the changes from the source branch into the target branch, preserving the commit history.

Understanding these commands will give you a solid foundation for using Git in your development projects.