Learn Git

Git is one of the most important tools used in professional software development. It allows developers to track changes to code, collaborate with others, and safely experiment without losing work.

This section is designed to teach Git from the ground up, assuming you have never used it before.

By the end of this section you should understand:

What Git is
How to install Git
How to create repositories
How to track and commit changes
How branching works
How to work with remote repositories like GitHub
How to fix common Git mistakes
The workflows used by real development teams

What is Git?

Git is a version control system.

Version control systems track changes to files over time.

Instead of having files like: project_final project_final2 project_final3_reallyfinal Git allows you to track every change made to a project in a structured way.

This allows you to:

See what changed
Revert to previous versions
Work with multiple developers
Experiment without breaking the main project

Git vs GitHub

This is one of the most common beginner confusions.

Git

Git is the tool installed on your computer that tracks file changes.

GitHub

GitHub is a website that hosts Git repositories online.

Git works locally on your computer. GitHub allows collaboration and backup.

Git Basics

A typical Git workflow looks like this: edit files ↓ git add ↓ git commit ↓ git push Explanation:

edit files

You modify your code.

git add

You tell Git which files you want to include in the next snapshot.

git commit

Git saves a snapshot of your project.

git push

You send those changes to a remote repository like GitHub.

Git Concepts

Understanding these terms will make learning Git much easier.

Repository (repo)

A repository is a folder that Git tracks.

Example: my-project/

Inside that folder Git stores a hidden directory:

.git/

This folder contains all version history.

Commit

A commit is a snapshot of your project at a specific moment.

Good commits should include clear messages explaining what changed.

Example:

Add user login validation

Branch

A branch is an independent line of development.

Example:

main └── feature-login

Developers create branches to work on features without breaking the main codebase.

Installing Git

Choose your operating system.

Learning Path

Follow these sections in order if you are new to Git.

What You Will Learn Next

Continue with the first step:

➡ Installing Git