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When you can undo anything, you stop being afraid to change it.
GIT manages time for your code. It records what changed, when, and why; it takes you back when something breaks; and it lets many people edit the same code at once. Nearly all software in the world is built on GIT, and AI development tools assume a GIT repository. Work through the nine steps in order and you'll go past using it alone to using it on a team.
- Who it's for
- Developers · server operators · IT professionals
- Estimated time
- 30 minutes a day · about 3 weeks
- Steps
- 9 steps
Why learn GIT first
Before you hand code to an AI, you need a way to undo. Without GIT you cannot see what an AI changed or get it back when it goes wrong. With GIT you review every AI change as a diff and throw it away with one command if you don't like it. GIT matters more in the age of AI, not less.
The nine steps
- 1 Why GIT, and your first setup The end of naming files "final" and "final-real". Understand what GIT actually stores, and finish the one-time identity setup. Learn
- 2 The repository and its three areas Create or clone a repository, and learn to tell apart the working directory, the staging area, and the repository. Miss this distinction and every later command will confuse you. Learn
- 3 The daily loop — status, add, commit, log Ninety percent of your time with GIT is these four commands. You'll also learn what belongs in one commit and how to write a message worth reading. Learn
- 4 Undoing and ignoring Which tool to reach for depends on how far the change already went. Telling restore, reset, and revert apart is the whole point of this step. Learn
- 5 Branching and merging Split work off and bring it back later. Once you grasp how cheap a branch is, the way you use GIT changes. Learn
- 6 Remote repositories Everything so far lived on your machine. Now connect to a repository on the internet and learn to push, fetch, and pull without surprises. Learn
- 7 Collaboration — pull requests and code review On a team nobody commits straight to main. Branch, push, open a pull request, get reviewed, merge. This is the loop every software team runs on. Learn
- 8 Reshaping history — rebase, stash, tag, cherry-pick Techniques for editing history you already made. Powerful, and bound by one golden rule you must not break. Learn
- 9 Using GIT with AI Hand your diff to an AI for a commit message, work through conflicts together — and never run a destructive command you haven't read. Learn