If you’re just starting your journey in web or software development, there’s a good chance you’ve heard about Git. But what is it and how can it help you as a developer?
Git is a version control system, and it’s like a time machine for your code. Imagine you’re writing an essay, and every time you make changes, you save a new copy. Now instead of having dozens of versions of the essay cluttering up your computer, Git lets you track changes, go back to earlier versions, and work with others on the same project—all while keeping things neat and organized.
But Git can be tricky to master especially if you’re new to programming. In this blog post, I’ll walk with through 10 essential Git and development tips that will make your life easier. Whether you’re building your first website or working on team project, these tips will help keep things easy to manage, avoid common mistakes and work faster.
What is Git, and Why Should You Care?
Before we get to the tips, let’s take a second to talk about what Git really is. At its core, Git is a version control system. It lets developers track changes in their code, combine and collaborate with others on their code, and it has an easy-to-use revert feature (i.e., you can go back to an earlier version of your project if you totally mess something up). Basically, as a developer, you use Git because it makes coding easier (and way less scary), especially when other people are depending on your code.
Imagine you’re working along on a document you share with some friends. You make some changes, and they do too. Suddenly it’s like OMG WHICH VERSION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS EVEN THE RIGHT ONE?! Git basically never lets this happen to your code. It remembers exactly what the document looked like at every point in time, so no matter how many people tried to “improve” it simultaneously, it can always recreate every version.
1. Commit Early, Commit Often
One of the most important rule in Git is to commit your code regularly, a commit is like a snapshot of your project at that point of time.
Why?: By committing often you will have a full history of everything you’ve changes. If something breaks you can easily go back.
How?: Instead of committing once a day with 1,000+ lines of crap, commit after each small task.
Example:
Take the example of when you save a draft on an essay you’re doing, you don’t want to lose all that work you’ve done after hours and hours.
2. Create Separate Branches for New Features
Git allows you to create branches and work on different things at the same time. If there’s something you want to work on or try out, but you’re not sure if the code works well enough to add it to the project, put it in a branch.
Why?: This is useful when you’re working on a new feature or fixing a bug. You can keep your work separate from the main code until it’s ready to be added.
How?: Create a new branch for every feature you work on, and once you’re done, you can merge it back into the main project.
Example:
It's like making a clone of your essay to experiment with new things you'd like to do, and once they turn out well there, you can transfer the same over to your final draft.
3. Use Git Stash to Save Unfinished Work
Sometimes you’re in the middle of doing something, and you need to context-switch. But, you’d rather not commit half-done work. What do? git stash
Why?: stash is used to take your current state of the code and save it aside for later without having to commit. So idea is you can come back to this state of code once you are ready to finish.
How? : Run git stash , this will take your changes out of the way temporarily and then when you are ready run git stash pop
Example:
You’re writing a paragraph, but you want to take some time off to help someone with their essay. You can “stash” what you were working on and come back to it after.
4. Understand Merge vs. Rebase
As you work with Git, you’ll come to a point where you have to combine code from two different branches. And there are two ways of doing that in Git, merge and rebase.
Merge: It combines two branches together and makes a merge commit. It’s like merging two versions of your essay and keeping a note where they were merged.
Rebase: This one replays the changes from one branch onto another, resulting in cleaner history without extra merges.
Tip: Use merge when you think your changes are ready for merging but use rebase if you want to clean up your history before pushing your changes to a central repository or sharing them with collaborators.
5. Avoid Using git add . Without Care
When you’re about to commit your changes, it’s very tempting to use the command git add . and add everything to the commit. I would recommend not doing that because it can actually be risky, especially if you are not exactly sure what was changing there.
Why?: It is very easy to include files by accident that you didn’t mean to commit. Things like configuration files or temporary files.
How?: Instead use git add <file> to add specific files or git add -p to review each change before adding it.
Example:
It’s as if you’re going over each paragraph one by one to make sure it’s good enough for your final paper before you actually add it.
6. Use .gitignore to Keep Your Repo Clean
When you use Git, there are often files that you never want to commit. These might be log files, temporary files or your environment settings. You can tell Git to ignore these types of files using a .gitignore
Why?: It helps you to keep your repository clean and avoid adding unnecessary files.
How?: You can specify file names or patterns (like node_modules/ or .env) in the .gitignore file, and these files will be ignored by Git when you add files to a commit.
Example:
It’s like a to-do list for things you shouldn’t try to put into your final draft.
7. Use Git Aliases to Speed Up Your Workflow
Typing long Git commands again and again can be time-consuming. This is when Git aliases can save your day. In simple words, with the help of aliases, you can create shorter commands for executing longer ones.
Why?: To save time, and not to repeat yourself.
How?: For example instead of typing git checkout you can make an alias like a git co and avoid the pain of typing 2 extra characters!
Tip: Create an alias for the commands that you use frequently, like git status, git commit or git branch.
Steps to Create Git Aliases:
- Open your terminal.
- Run the following commands:
For a git status alias:
git config --global alias.st status
Now, instead of typing git status, you can simply type git st.
For a git commit alias:
git config --global alias.ci commit
This makes git ci execute git commit.
For a git checkout alias:
git config --global alias.co checkout
Now, git co will replace git checkout.
Check your aliases: To verify that your aliases have been set, run:
git config --global -l
This will list all your global Git configurations, including your aliases.
Use your aliases: After setting up, start using the shorter commands like git st, git ci, or git co instead of typing out the full commands.
Example:
If you frequently switch between branches and want to make it faster, you can create a git br
git config --global alias.br branch
Now, typing git br will list all your branches.
Tip: You can create more complex aliases, like combining multiple commands, for even greater efficiency!
8. Always Pull Before You Push
Before you push your changes to a shared repository, the first thing you should do is pull the latest changes. This makes sure that your code is up to date and helps prevent any conflicts with someone else’s work.
Why?: If you push before pulling, you might overwrite someone else’s work or create merge conflicts.
How?: Use git pull --rebase to pull the changes and then apply your work on top.
Example:
It is like making sure that before you begin working on a collective essay, it is the most updated version and then your part comes in.
9. Use Git Hooks to Automate Repetitive Tasks
Git hooks are scripts that run automatically when specific events occur in a Git repository. You can, for example, use a hook script to automatically run your test suite before committing.
Why? because it will save you time and ensure that you do things like test or format your code before committing.
How: git has an option of creating hooks in the git/hooks/ of your project, when you clone a repository there should be some sample scripts in there.
Example:
Imagine if you could have a reminder pop up every time you save your essay, reminding you to double check for spelling mistakes. Git hooks can do something similar for your code.
10. Tag Important Versions of Your Project
When you’re working on a longer-term project, it’s nice to be able to mark certain points in history as being more important or significant than others. That’s what tags are for!
Why?: Tags are used to bookmark specific points in Git history. It is generally recommended to create tags for software releases.
How?: git tag v1.0.0 creates a tag reference at the specified commit, and e git push origin v1.0.0 sends the tag references to the remote repository.
Example:
It's like marking the final version of your essay before submitting it for review.
Conclusion: Git for Beginners Made Simple
So, how did you find these 10 essential git and development tips to make your work flow smoother, code cleaner and project management easier? You can see yourself how it could save you from many possible pitfalls and make you more productive if your project is solo or working on a team.
Remember, Git is your safety net. It helps you keep track of what you’re doing, work with others, and try things without having to worry about losing your previous work. In fact, once you start really getting the hang of these tips I’m about to give you, Git often goes from just being that thing that nags at you whenever you forget to pull before a push into one of the most-loved weapons in your development arsenal.
I hope this post has helped make working with Git a little less uncomfortable! If you have any favorite Git commands or development tricks that you feel were not mentioned, then please let us know in the comments below and help us all to learn together
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