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Vishal Yadav
Vishal Yadav

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Mastering Git: 30 Essential Commands Every Developer Should Know

#webdev #beginners #programming #git

GitHub is an indispensable tool for developers worldwide. Mastering Git commands is crucial to efficiently managing your codebase and collaborating with others. Here, we've compiled 30 essential Git commands that will help you navigate your projects like a pro.

1. git init

Initializes a new Git repository in the current directory.

git init
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2. git clone [url]

Clones a repository into a new directory.

git clone [url]
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3. git add [file]

Adds a file or changes in a file to the staging area.

git add [file]
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4. git commit -m "[message]"

Records changes to the repository with a descriptive message.

git commit -m "[message]"
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5. git push

Uploads local repository content to a remote repository.

git push
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6. git pull

Fetches changes from the remote repository and merges them into the local branch.

git pull
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7. git status

Displays the status of the working directory and staging area.

git status
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8. git branch

Lists all local branches in the current repository.

git branch
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9. git checkout [branch]

Switches to the specified branch.

git checkout [branch]
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10. git merge [branch]

Merges the specified branch's history into the current branch.

git merge [branch]
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11. git remote -v

Lists the remote repositories along with their URLs.

git remote -v
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12. git log

Displays commit logs.

git log
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13. git reset [file]

Unstages the file, but preserves its contents.

git reset [file]
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14. git rm [file]

Deletes the file from the working directory and stages the deletion.

git rm [file]
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15. git stash

Temporarily shelves (or stashes) changes that haven't been committed.

git stash
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16. git tag [tagname]

Creates a lightweight tag pointing to the current commit.

git tag [tagname]
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17. git fetch [remote]

Downloads objects and refs from another repository.

git fetch [remote]
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18. git merge --abort

Aborts the current conflict resolution process and tries to reconstruct the pre-merge state.

git merge --abort
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19. git rebase [branch]

Reapplies commits on top of another base tip, often used to integrate changes from one branch onto another cleanly.

git rebase [branch]
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20. git config --global user.name "[name]" and git config --global user.email "[email]"

Sets the name and email to be used with your commits.

git config --global user.name "[name]"
git config --global user.email "[email]"
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21. git diff

Shows changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc.

git diff
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22. git remote add [name] [url]

Adds a new remote repository.

git remote add [name] [url]
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23. git remote remove [name]

Removes a remote repository.

git remote remove [name]
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24. git checkout -b [branch]

Creates a new branch and switches to it.

git checkout -b [branch]
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25. git branch -d [branch]

Deletes the specified branch.

git branch -d [branch]
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26. git push --tags

Pushes all tags to the remote repository.

git push --tags
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27. git cherry-pick [commit]

Picks a commit from another branch and applies it to the current branch.

git cherry-pick [commit]
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28. git fetch --prune

Prunes remote tracking branches no longer on the remote.

git fetch --prune
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29. git clean -df

Removes untracked files and directories from the working directory.

git clean -df
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30. git submodule update --init --recursive

Initializes and updates submodules recursively.

git submodule update --init --recursive
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Conclusion

These 30 Git commands are essential for any developer looking to effectively manage their projects on GitHub. Whether you're initializing a new repository, managing branches, or pushing your latest changes, mastering these commands will make your development workflow smoother and more efficient. Happy coding!

By familiarizing yourself with these commands, you can handle most Git operations with ease, allowing you to focus more on writing great code and less on managing your repository.

Top comments (8)

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jonrandy profile image
Jon Randy 🎖️ •

You might want to re-title the post. This is about Git, not GitHub

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vyan profile image
Vishal Yadav •

Done!

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hughdbrown profile image
Hugh Brown •

How is this about github? Are there git-commands here that do not work with other git servers?

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darktek profile image
DarkteK •

#9 should be changed to git switch or you would need to modify the proper description:

The switch command indeed does the same thing as checkout, but only for those usages that switch branches. It cannot restore working tree files — that is done using restore, the other command split off from checkout.

The split checkout commands, in summary:

switch — Switch to a specified branch
restore — Restore file(s) from another branch or source

Git v2.23.0 was release 5 years ago and ppl are still using git checkout as git switch doesn't even exists...

Git logs: github.com/git/git/blob/master/Doc...

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drumm profile image
Sam J. •

A lot more can be said about git merge vs rebase. For feature development, I typically use ‘git rebase -i’ all day and never ‘git merge’.

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ptcbink profile image
ptcbink •

This is basic of our devs.

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boby_tiwari_fd03ffa35b156 profile image
Boby Tiwari •

Great

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ismail_mb profile image
Isma'il Hassan •

Thanks for sharing

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