Understanding The Git Workflow

Jane M. — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 01:01:01 +0000

My Understanding Of Git

Git is a place where one is able to create projects using commands and they can be tried, tested and if something is not right the correction is also done here. Projects worked on via Git are stored in a local repository where GitHub acts as a backup platform for the same therefore , one has to synchronize the project to GitHub. Git allows one to track any changes and/or corrections that need to be done while GitHub allows one to present their projects to the public and use it as backup and any projects can be retrieved easily.

Commands

Commands are sort of instructions that are given in the present Git platform and they source the information based on given command then relay it.

Example:

We have a folder in local storage Kenyan Banks Mortgage Analysis. Within it we have various subfolders for example data and a README file.

To create the data subfolder we use the command mkdir data
To create the README file use touch README.md
ls to list.
Git operates in the present so each command represents a step. You cannot assume it knows your intent, you'll constantly trace and retrace your steps to achieve your project goals.
Assuming you have a project Kenyan Banks Mortgage Analysis to work on on your local storage , open it with Git. Proceed to open the subfolder data using cd data
To go back to Kenyan Banks Mortgage Analysis use cd ..

Initialize

git init initializes a local Git repository in the folder "Kenyan Banks Mortgage Analysis".
ls -la lists all files.

Staging

git status confirms if there are changes to be staged.
git add . the changes are staged if any.
git status confirms readiness to commit.

Commit

git commit -m "Add Kenyan Banks Mortgage Analysis"
git log --oneline shows all commit history.

Push

git branch confirms the current branch name. Change to main branch if necessary using git branch -M main
After creating a new repository on GitHub, copy the SSH Key and paste it after git remote add origin which links the local and GitHub repositories.
git remote -v ensures the linking to GitHub was successful.
git push -u origin main uploads the local file to GitHub.
Confirm this has reflected in GitHub as it acts as your backup.

Challenges

While Git is very interesting to learn and use, the commands feel all jumbled up at first. It significantly gets easier after understanding what each does like a formulae rather than knowing them in an essay format.

DEV Community: Jane M.