Git Basics

Git is a distributed version control system that tracks changes in source code over time.

Setup:
  git config --global user.name "Your Name"
  git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

Core Workflow:
  git init              — initialize a new repository
  git clone <url>       — copy a remote repository locally
  git status            — show working tree status (staged, unstaged, untracked)
  git add <file>        — stage a file for commit
  git add .             — stage all changes
  git commit -m "msg"   — save staged changes with a message
  git push origin main  — push commits to remote
  git pull              — fetch and merge from remote

Branching:
  git branch              — list all local branches
  git branch feature-x    — create a new branch
  git checkout feature-x  — switch to branch (older syntax)
  git switch feature-x    — switch to branch (newer syntax)
  git checkout -b feature-x  — create and switch in one step
  git merge feature-x     — merge branch into current branch
  git branch -d feature-x — delete a branch (after merge)

Remote:
  git remote -v            — show remote URLs
  git remote add origin <url>  — add a remote
  git fetch origin         — download remote changes (don't merge)
  git pull origin main     — fetch + merge remote main into current branch

Undoing Changes:
  git restore <file>          — discard unstaged changes in a file
  git restore --staged <file> — unstage a file
  git revert <commit>         — create a new commit that undoes a commit (safe)
  git reset --soft HEAD~1     — undo last commit, keep changes staged
  git reset --hard HEAD~1     — undo last commit AND discard changes (destructive)

Viewing History:
  git log                 — full commit history
  git log --oneline       — compact one-line per commit
  git diff                — show unstaged changes
  git diff --staged       — show staged changes
  git show <commit>       — show changes in a specific commit

Stashing:
  git stash               — temporarily save uncommitted changes
  git stash pop           — restore last stash and remove it
  git stash list          — show all stashes

Rebasing vs Merging:
- Merge: creates a merge commit, preserves history of both branches
- Rebase: replays commits on top of another branch, creates linear history
  git rebase main         — rebase current branch onto main
- Rule: never rebase commits that have been pushed to a shared remote

.gitignore:
- Lists files/patterns Git should not track
- Common entries: node_modules/, __pycache__/, .env, *.pyc, dist/, build/
- Check gitignore.io for language-specific templates