DEV Community: Moustafa

Git Documentation - Config, Reflog, and Tags

Moustafa — Tue, 11 Mar 2025 19:48:47 +0000

1️⃣ Git Config

git config is used to configure Git settings at different levels: global, local, and system.

🔹 Setting User Information

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

These commands set your username and email globally for all repositories.

🔹 Checking Current Configuration

git config --list

This command displays all current configurations.

🔹 Setting Default Text Editor

git config --global core.editor "code --wait"  # VS Code
git config --global core.editor "nano"         # Nano Editor

🔹 Removing Configurations

git config --global --unset user.name
git config --global --unset user.email

2️⃣ Git Reflog

git reflog is used to track the history of all references in a repository, even those that are not part of git log.

🔹 Viewing the Reflog History

git reflog

This command shows all actions related to HEAD, including commits, resets, and checkouts.

🔹 Recovering a Lost Commit

If you accidentally reset or deleted a commit, use the commit hash from git reflog to restore it:

git checkout <commit-hash>

🔹 Clearing the Reflog

git reflog expire --expire=now --all
git gc --prune=now

This removes all reflog entries.

3️⃣ Git Tag

git tag is used to mark specific commits with a label, commonly for versioning.

🔹 Creating a Lightweight Tag

git tag v1.0.0

This tags the latest commit as v1.0.0.

🔹 Creating an Annotated Tag (with message)

git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Version 1.0.0 release"

🔹 Listing All Tags

git tag

🔹 Deleting a Tag

git tag -d v1.0.0

🔹 Pushing Tags to Remote Repository

git push origin v1.0.0  # Push a specific tag
git push origin --tags  # Push all tags

🔹 Checking Out a Tag

git checkout tags/v1.0.0

🔹 Creating a Branch from a Tag

git checkout -b new-branch v1.0.0

📌 Summary

Command	Description
`git config --global user.name "Your Name"`	Set global username
`git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"`	Set global email
`git config --list`	Show all configurations
`git reflog`	Show reference logs (history of HEAD movements)
`git reflog expire --expire=now --all`	Clear reflog history
`git tag v1.0.0`	Create a lightweight tag
`git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Version 1.0.0 release"`	Create an annotated tag
`git push origin --tags`	Push all tags to remote

Git Concepts - Second Day

Moustafa — Tue, 11 Mar 2025 01:44:41 +0000

1- Undoing Commits (`reset` vs. `revert`)

`git reset` - Undo commits and move the branch pointer

Git reset is used to undo commits. It comes in three types:

--soft → Keeps changes in Staging (index).
--mixed → Keeps changes in Working Directory (default).
--hard → Deletes commits and changes permanently.

Example:

git reset --soft HEAD~1  # Undo last commit but keep changes staged
git reset --mixed HEAD~1  # Undo last commit and unstage changes
git reset --hard HEAD~1  # Undo commit and delete changes permanently! ⚠️

`git revert` - Undo a commit without deleting history

Unlike reset, revert creates a new commit that cancels the changes of a previous commit.

Example:

git revert HEAD  # Reverts the last commit with a new commit
git revert <commit-hash>  # Reverts a specific commit

When to use each?

Use reset when working locally and want to completely remove a commit.
Use revert if the commit has already been pushed and you want to keep history clean.

2- Stashing - Saving Changes Temporarily

git stash is used to save uncommitted changes temporarily without committing them.

Example:

git stash          # Save changes and get a clean working directory  
git stash pop      # Retrieve the latest stash and remove it  
git stash apply    # Retrieve the latest stash without removing it  
git stash list     # Show all saved stashes  
git stash clear    # Delete all stashes

When to use stash?

When working on a feature branch and need to switch to another branch without committing.
When testing something quickly but don’t want to commit unfinished changes.

3- Rebasing - Merging Branches in a Linear Way

git rebase moves commits from one branch to another without creating extra merge commits.

Example:

git checkout feature-branch  
git rebase main  # Moves feature-branch commits on top of main

When to use rebase?

To keep commit history clean and linear instead of multiple merge commits.
To update a feature branch with the latest changes from main.

4- Interactive Rebasing - Editing Commit History

git rebase -i allows you to edit, reorder, squash, or delete commits interactively.

Example:

git rebase -i HEAD~3  # Edit last 3 commits

Inside the editor, you can:

pick → Keep commit as is
reword → Change commit message
edit → Modify commit contents
squash → Merge commits
drop → Delete commit When to use interactive rebasing?
To clean up messy commit history before pushing.
To combine multiple small commits into one.

Git for new learners

Moustafa — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 01:02:50 +0000

Git - My Learning Journey

I recently started learning Git, and my goal is to master it in just three days! To help myself understand it better, I'll document everything new I learn in this post as a personal reminder.

Day 2 - Understanding git merge
Today, I learned about merging branches in Git. Merging allows changes from one branch to be applied to another. There are two types of merges:

1- Fast Forward Merge - This happens when the target branch hasn’t changed since the feature branch was created. Git simply moves the pointer forward to include the new changes.

2- Non Fast Forward (Three Way Merge) - If both branches have changes, Git creates a new commit that combines them.

More to come as I continue learning! 🚀

DEV Community: Moustafa

Git Documentation - Config, Reflog, and Tags

1️⃣ Git Config

🔹 Setting User Information

🔹 Checking Current Configuration

🔹 Setting Default Text Editor

🔹 Removing Configurations

2️⃣ Git Reflog

🔹 Viewing the Reflog History

🔹 Recovering a Lost Commit

🔹 Clearing the Reflog

3️⃣ Git Tag

🔹 Creating a Lightweight Tag

🔹 Creating an Annotated Tag (with message)

🔹 Listing All Tags

🔹 Deleting a Tag

🔹 Pushing Tags to Remote Repository

🔹 Checking Out a Tag

🔹 Creating a Branch from a Tag

📌 Summary

Git Concepts - Second Day

1- Undoing Commits (reset vs. revert)

git reset - Undo commits and move the branch pointer

git revert - Undo a commit without deleting history

2- Stashing - Saving Changes Temporarily

3- Rebasing - Merging Branches in a Linear Way

4- Interactive Rebasing - Editing Commit History

Git for new learners

Git - My Learning Journey

1- Undoing Commits (`reset` vs. `revert`)

`git reset` - Undo commits and move the branch pointer

`git revert` - Undo a commit without deleting history