Git & Command Line•22 min read•Beginner

Git — Your First Repo

init, add, commit, status, log. The 5 commands you'll run a hundred times a day.

What Git is

Git is a VERSION CONTROL system: a time machine for your code. Every project bigger than a single file should be in Git. It tracks every change, lets you roll back mistakes, branch off to try ideas safely, and merge work from multiple people.

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Real-life analogy — Git = save points in a video game

Every commit is a save point. You can return to any save point later. Branches are alternate timelines — try a risky boss fight, and if you die, jump back to the save and take a different path.

First-time setup

bash

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"
git config --global init.defaultBranch main

Starting a repo

bash

mkdir my-project
cd my-project
git init                      # turn a folder into a git repo
echo '# My Project' > README.md
git status                    # see what's untracked or modified
git add README.md             # stage a file
git commit -m "first commit"   # snapshot it

The three areas

Working directory — files you're editing right now.
Staging area (index) — changes you've added but not yet committed. Lets you commit only some changes.
Repository — the timeline of committed snapshots.

Daily commands

bash

git status                    # what's changed?
git add .                     # stage every change
git add file.py               # stage just one file
git add -p                    # interactively pick which CHUNKS to stage
git commit -m "fix bug X"     # snapshot the staged changes
git log                       # history
git log --oneline             # one line per commit
git diff                      # unstaged changes
git diff --staged             # staged-but-not-committed changes

.gitignore

Some files should never be committed — secrets, build artifacts, dependencies. List them in a `.gitignore` file at the repo root.

bash

# .gitignore
node_modules/
.env
*.log
.DS_Store
.next/
__pycache__/

⚠ Watch out

If you accidentally commit a secret (API key, password), rotating that secret is the only safe fix. Removing it from git history is hard and incomplete — assume the secret is leaked the moment it touches a commit.

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