Quitting a git GUI habit

I’ve been a user of source tree but it has let me down many times (crashes, high memory usage).

I’ve recognized that i really don’t know that much about git. I should learn at least the commands I use the most.

I’m a windows user so posh-git is a must have. There are great docs for git but they can be a bit overwhelming and have a lot of detail that is not needed 90% of the time. So, here it is, my 7 item git jump-start list:

1. git checkout

The most basic command for switching branches. You can use -f to throw away any local changes

1. git fetch

Used to update the remote status. Useful to know if i need to pull. Use -p to remove any remote-tracking references that no longer exist on the remote

1. git pull

Pulls latest commits from origin. Use -r to rebase changes that are not yet pushed

1. git add

Adds changes to the staging area. Use -a to add all changes.

1. git commit -m “”

Commits currently staged changes. Use -a to stage all changes before committing.

1. git push

Push currently committed changed to origin.

1. other stuff

I’m already cheating about the 7 items but now I’m getting into less used commands. git stash, git merge, git commit with amend, git push with force are all great tools to know about.

I cannot get my head around git diff. I still use GUI tools to handle conflicts and to review changes before committing.

That’s it. This list should be enough to keep me from using a GUI to interact with git most of the time.