This is not my first github repo but it is the first time I'm learning about git and github via The Odin Project!
The info below was copied directly from The Odin Project's Git Basics section. I'm placing it here as a reference for myself.
This is a reference list of the most commonly used Git commands. (You might consider bookmarking this handy page.) Try to familiarize yourself with the commands so that you can eventually remember them all:
- Commands related to a remote repository:
git clone git@github.com:USER-NAME/REPOSITORY-NAME.gitgit pushorgit push origin main(Both accomplish the same goal in this context)
- Commands related to the workflow:
git add .git commit -m "A message describing what you have done to make this snapshot different"
- Commands related to checking status or log history
git statusgit log
The basic Git syntax is program | action | destination.
For example,
git add .is read asgit | add | ., where the period represents everything in the current directory;git commit -m "message"is read asgit | commit -m | "message"; andgit statusis read asgit | status | (no destination).
There's a lot to learn about using Git. But it is worth taking the time to highlight some best practices so that you can be a better collaborator. Git is not only helpful when collaborating with others. It's also useful when working independently. You will be relying more and more on your own commit history in the future when revisiting old code.
Two helpful best practices to consider are atomic commits and leveraging those atomic commits to make your commit messages more useful to future collaborators.
An atomic commit is a commit that includes changes related to only one feature or task of your program. There are two main reasons for doing this: first, if something you change turns out to cause some problems, it is easy to revert the specific change without losing other changes; and second, it enables you to write better commit messages. You'll learn more about what a good commit message looks like in a future lesson!
If you are using Visual Studio Code (and you should be if you're following this curriculum), there's a way to ensure that if you use git commit without the message flag (-m), you won't get stuck writing your commit message in Vim.
Changing the default message editor is a good idea in case you accidentally omit the flag, unless you prefer using Vim. There is no downside to changing it, because you will have the option to write your commit messages in the terminal or in the comfort of VS Code.
The following command will set this configuration. Type (or copy & paste) this command into your terminal and hit Enter.
git config --global core.editor "code --wait"There will be no confirmation or any output on the terminal after entering this command.
With that done, you can now choose to use either git commit -m <your message here> or git commit to type your message with Visual Studio Code!
To make a commit with Visual Studio Code as the text editor, just type git commit. After you hit Enter a new tab in VS Code will open for you to write your commit message. You may provide more details on multiple lines as part of your commit message. After typing your commit message, save it Ctrl + S (or Mac equivalent) and close the tab. If you return to the command line, you will see your commit message and a summary of your changes.
You may not feel completely comfortable with Git at this point, which is normal. It's a skill that you will get more comfortable with as you use it.
The main thing to take away from this lesson is the basic workflow. The commands you've learned here are the ones you will be using the most often with Git.
Don't worry if you don't know all the commands yet or if they aren't quite sticking in your memory yet. They will soon be seared into your brain as you use them over and over in future Odin projects.
In later Git lessons, we will cover some of the more advanced Git features, such as branches. They will further expand your abilities and make you more productive.
For now, concentrate on using the basics of Git that you've learned here for all of your projects from now on. You will soon know each of the basic Git commands from memory!