Introduction to Git
What Will We Learn?
What is git and how it differs from other Version Control Systems (VCS) and advantages of using it over other VCS.
This is simplified high level introduction to git, navigate through the guide using sidebar for deep dive.
What is Git?
To put it simple, Git is a tool designed to track changes (version control) of your files and directories. Because with any project, personal or professional — source code evolves, file changes and you want a clear history of those changes so that you can view changes over time clearly and even go back in time if something breaks.
What is Version Control System?
Version control is nothing but a system that tracks the changes you made to your files over time. Unlike traditional version control systems that rely on a single central copy of the code, Git gives every developer a complete copy of the repository on their own machine.
In centralized systems, developers typically need to stay connected to the server to access the repository and project history, and work can be disrupted if the server becomes unavailable. They can also run into synchronization issues and complex merges when multiple developers modify the same files.
Git’s distributed approach removes these limitations by allowing developers to work, commit changes, and review the entire project history locally—even without an internet connection—making collaboration faster, more reliable, and more flexible.
Advantages of Using Git
Whether you are starting your new project or working on existing project, git will stand out and has become madetory for developers. It offers several benefits:
Clear History: As git tracks every single changes made to your file, you can know how your file and project exactly looked back in time. You made a mistake?, Feature indroduces bug? — no more headaches, just revert back to known good checkpoint.
Stage Before Commiting: Git allows you to stage changes before actually making changes. It helps you to know exactly what are being committed or changed in your project.
Easy Collaboration: Working in a separate feature branch for new feature empowers easy collaboration with no fear of breaking main codebase.
Local View of Project: This is a killer feature of git so that every developer can have local view of the project. You can work now and synchronize later instead of being online every single minute.