Git for n00bs

Brought to you by

Laurel Taylor

at

Assumptions

  • You're either brand new or don't know much about git
  • You need to make changes to a repository ("repo") using git
  • You have a github account and access to the repo(s)

What is covered

  • Basics
    • Making changes 
    • Saving changes
    • Sharing changes
  • Shared branches
    • Proper etiquette
  • Merge conflict resolution
  • What to do when it goes wrong
  • Cool tricks and time savers

What isn't covered

  • GUIs (sourcetree)
    • Terminal only here
  • git stash
    • I love it, but let's commit to be safe
  • git pull/git merge
    • Let's stick with fetch/rebase
  • working with more than one remote
    • just sticking with origin

Important

  • I'm still getting used to the term "main" instead of "master". They can technically be used interchangeably.
  • There's a lot of ways to use git. These are just what I've found to work best, in all situations I've run into.

Basics

What is git?

Clone a repo

Clone a repo

> mkdir ~/Documents/code
> cd ~/Documents/code/
> git clone <pasted link>
> git clone https://github.com/laurel-taylor/git-training.git
> cd git-training

Make changes

> git branch FS-101-branch-name origin/main
> git checkout FS-101-branch-name

1) create a branch

2) check out that branch

3) make your changes in an IDE

Your own (local)

vs

remote (origin)

Your local repo

  • main
  • my-test-branch
  • FS-101-a-feature
  • FS-102-another-feature

Remote repo

  • origin/main
  • origin/FS-101-a-feature
  • origin/FS-102-another-feature

Saving changes

> git status

Your changes should be in red ("unstaged")

> git diff

See what changes you've made

Saving changes

> git add .
> git status

Your changes should be in green ("staged")

> git commit

OMG i'm in VI what do??

(ESC :q!)

> git commit -m "FS-101 | my change description"

Saving changes

> git log

You can see your commit

(or your list of commits on this branch)

Sharing changes

> git fetch

If origin/main has not been updated, you are free to push!

> git push origin FS-101-my-branch

Note the SPACE between origin and the branch name.

Rebasing

https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/merging-vs-rebasing

main

Rebasing

https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/merging-vs-rebasing

main

Sharing changes

I have a branch up on origin, but I needed to rebase... now it rejects my push.

> git push -f origin FS-101-my-branch

NOTE if you are using a shared branch (with other people) this can be dangerous if there's no communication!

TL;DR

  1. git fetch
  2. make a branch off origin/main (git branch branch-name origin/main)
  3. check out the branch (git checkout branch-name)
  4. make your changes
  5. double check changes (git diff)
  6. stage changes (git add .)
  7. commit changes (git commit -m "message")
  8. git fetch (git rebase origin/main if main updated)
  9. git push origin branch-name (push -f if needed)

Shared branches

Proper ettiquitte

1) Create a branch that you can work off of, and push it to origin. Only one person should do this, and it should just be a clone of master.

> git fetch
> git checkout -b our-shared-branch origin/main
> git push origin our-shared-branch

2) "Hey guys, I made a branch called 'our-shared-branch'. It's up on origin."

> git fetch
> git checkout -b our-shared-branch origin/our-shared-branch

Proper ettiquitte

3) When pushing changes, always fetch and see if main or the shared branch has been updated

> git fetch

4) If main or the shared branch has been updated, rebase off the SHARED branch FIRST, THEN main, then IMMEDIATELY force push:

> git fetch
> git rebase origin/our-shared-branch
> git rebase origin/main
> git fetch #has it updated again????
> git push -f origin our-shared-branch

Proper ettiquitte

The worst thing you can do is overwrite another person's changes by force pushing.

If you (and everyone else) rebase from the shared branch this will be avoided!

TL;DR

  1. Have a shared branch on origin
  2. git fetch
  3. make a branch off origin/shared-branch-name (git branch shared-branch-name origin/shared-branch-name)
  4. check out the branch (git checkout shared-branch-name)
  5. make your changes
  6. double check changes (git diff)
  7. stage changes (git add .)
  8. commit changes (git commit -m "message")
  9. git fetch
    • rebase: FIRST origin/shared-branch-name
    • THEN origin/main
  10. git push origin shared-branch-name (push -f if needed)

Merge conflict resolution

Get a good IDE

VS Code works

IntelliJ works better

I also like diffmerge

(resolving merge conflicts is one thing that is garbage through the terminal)

When conflicts happen

Fix your conflicts

> git rebase origin/main
> git rebase origin/shared-branch
> git add .
> git rebase --continue

Fix your conflicts

(repeat)

If it goes wrong

Get me out of this

> git rebase --abort

Plz Halp 

When things go wrong

Help where am I

> git branch
> git status
> git log
> git reflog

These are all things you can do that won't affect any of yours or others' files. Use them as often as you like, to figure out where you are and where you've been.

Help I didn't mean to change that file

> git checkout -- filename.js

If the file is unstaged (red):

Help I didn't mean to make that one commit

> git reset --soft HEAD~1
> git push -f origin branch-name

You can also "unstage" changes with

git reset HEAD

 

If you accidentally committed to a remote branch, or a shared branch

> git revert

Help everything is wrong and I want it all to go away

> git fetch
> git reset --hard origin/main

Boom, everything is gone. This means all your commits, all your staged and unstaged changes for this branch.

Help I didn't mean to reset hard

> git reflog

Reflog is your best friend.

> git reset --hard u84938ru89u47839

Help I've force pushed over someone else's changes

You have to go talk to them, see if they can find the commit in their reflog, and they can push it up to the branch.

> git reflog
> git reset --hard jfiu8r94wrrf9r9w8
> git fetch
> git rebase origin/our-shared-branch
> git rebase origin/main
> git push -f origin our-shared-branch

Don't forget to say you're sorry :)

Help I reset changes that I didn't commit

Tough luck my friend.

If you've stashed, staged, or committed you can get your changes back.

But not if you've never told git about them.

(You might have the file open in an IDE? try using undo? good luck :) commit next time!)

Tips and tricks

Aliases

> open ~/.gitconfig
[alias]
	co = checkout
	s = status
	unstage = !echo "git reset HEAD" && git reset HEAD
	explode = !git fetch origin && git reset --hard origin/main
	undo = reset --soft HEAD~1
	ac = !git add -A && git commit
	alias = config --get-regexp ^alias\\.

Make a new branch and check it out:

> git checkout -b new-branch-name origin/main

Use an editor that isn't VI

[core]
	editor = open
> open ~/.gitconfig

Now when you say "git commit" you won't get VI as your default editor.

Use a mergetool that isn't VSCode/IntelliJ

Maybe try diffmerge

https://sourcegear.com/diffmerge/

Use a mergetool that isn't VSCode

> git config --global diff.tool diffmerge
> git config --global difftool.diffmerge.cmd
    "/usr/local/bin/diffmerge \"\$LOCAL\" \"\$REMOTE\""

> git config --global merge.tool diffmerge
> git config --global mergetool.diffmerge.trustExitCode true
> git config --global mergetool.diffmerge.cmd 
    "/usr/local/bin/diffmerge --merge --result=\"\$MERGED\"
        \"\$LOCAL\" \"\$BASE\" \"\$REMOTE\""
.bash_profile (or .zshrc)

alias cleanmergefiles="find . -name '*REMOTE*' -type f -delete -o -name '*LOCAL*' -type f -delete -o -name '*BACKUP*' -type f -delete -o -name '*BASE*' -type f -delete -o -name '*.orig' -type f -delete "

.zshrc

Command line helper

https://github.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh/master/tools/install.sh)"
inside ~/.zshrc:


plugins=(git zsh-autosuggestions)

grep is your friend

> git branch -r | grep "FS-101"

I made a commit, I can't find it

I made a branch, I can't find it

> git reflog | grep "FS-101"

Questions!

Git for n00bs

By Laurel Bruggeman

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Git for n00bs

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