A Git workflow has four distinct stages, and each one does something different. Most tutorials rush through them. I spent my first week at LuxDevHQ finally understanding why they exist separately and what actually moves between them. Here is the breakdown.
The Working Directory is where you actually code
It is your local folder. You edit files, break things, and experiment. Git does not care yet. Your changes live only on your machine. This is the sandbox.
The Staging Area is where you get intentional
You run git add .and say, "These changes belong together." You can stage some files and ignore others. This is what separates Git from just copying files around. You group related changes, then move forward as one unit.
The Commit is when you save
git commit -m "Your message" creates a permanent snapshot. Your message has to explain what you did. That message is not decoration. Someone reading the commit history should understand the why, not just see the changes. Commits are your permanent record.
The Push sends your work to the team
Before this, everything lives on your machine. git push uploads your commits to the remote server. Now your work is backed up, visible, and usable by everyone else.
The Flow
Edit → Stage → Commit → Push
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