Mastering Git: The Top 15 Commands Every Developer Should Know

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Git is a distributed version control system that is widely used by software developers and teams. It allows multiple people to work on the same project and track changes to the codebase.

Here are commonly used Git commands:

1. git clone - used to clone a remote repository to your local machine.

git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git

2. git init - used to initialize a new Git repository.

git init

3. git add - used to stage changes for commit.

git add . (to stage all changes) 

git add file.txt (to stage a specific file)

4. git commit- used to save changes to the repository.

git commit -m "add changes"

5. git push - used to push changes to a remote repository.

git push origin master

6. git pull - used to retrieve changes from a remote repository.

git pull origin master

7. git branch - used to manage branches within a Git repository.

git branch new-branch (to create a new branch)

git branch (to list all branches) 

8. git checkout - used to switch between branches or revert changes.

git checkout new-branch

9. git merge - used to merge changes from one branch into another.

git merge new-branch (to merge changes from new-branch into the current branch)

10. git log - used to view the commit history of a Git repository.

git log

11. git status - used to view the current status of the repository.

git status

12. git diff - used to view the differences between two commits or between the current

git diff HEAD

13. git reset - used to reset changes in the repository to a previous state.

git reset --hard HEAD

14. git stash - used to temporarily save changes without committing them.

git stash

15. git show - used to display information about a specific commit.

git show COMMIT_ID

These commands are the basics of using Git, and there are many more Git commands and features available to help manage complex projects. However, these fifteen commands will allow developers to effectively use Git in their day-to-day work.

Below are a few points why people use git.

1. Collaboration: Git allows multiple developers to work on the same project simultaneously and facilitates collaboration between team members.
2. Tracking Changes: Git tracks every change made to the codebase and provides a history of all changes, making it easier to revert to previous versions or to see who made specific changes.
3. Branching: Git provides a flexible branching model that allows developers to create branches for new features, bug fixes, or any other purpose, without affecting the main codebase.
4. Merging: Git makes it easy to merge changes from multiple branches, helping to reduce conflicts and improve collaboration between developers.
5. Remote Repositories: Git supports remote repositories, allowing teams to work on the same codebase from different locations. This can be especially useful for distributed teams or for backup purposes.
6. Open Source: Git is open-source software, which means that it is free and the source code is available for anyone to view, modify, or contribute to.
7. Community: Git has a large and active community of developers and users who contribute to its development, provide support, and share their knowledge and experience.
8. Efficient: Git is designed to be fast and efficient, making it possible to handle large codebases with thousands of files and multiple contributors.

Overall, Git is a valuable tool for software development teams, as it provides a reliable method for managing code and collaborating on projects.

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