Git terms and commands

getting to know the git lingo

Common Git terms

Term	Laymen's term
repository (aka repo)	project folder
local repository (aka local)	project folder on a personal computer
remote repository (aka remote)	project folder on the Internet (a server, perhaps?)
staging	a selection of files from the project folder
committing	confirming the selection of files as a change to the project
pushing	uploading the confirmations to the project folder on the Internet
cloning	copying a project folder from the Internet to one's computer
forking	copying someone else's project from the Internet onto one's own account
branching	creating a parallel version of a project (which can later merge back)
checkout	setting a branch as the current working branch
merging	combining a version with another version of a project

Common Git commands

Type git plus any of the following:

Command	What it does
init	**creates **or initializes a new local repository
add -A	adds all the changes to the Git repository to "staging"
commit -m "message"	updates the local repository with all the changes previously added to "staging" (tagged with a message summarizing the changes made)
remote add origin [repourl]	connects the local repository with a remote repository (usually on GitHub.com)
push [origin] [branch]	uploads the most recently committed changes (from the local repository to the remote repository)
clone [repourl]	downloads a remote repository to one's own computer
checkout [branchname]	switches to a branch in the local repository (assuming it exists)
checkout -b [newbranchname]	creates a new branch in the local repository
branch -a	displays a list of all branches
status	displays the current status of the local repository, i.e.: current branch name any files on staging any files with changes but not on staging
pull [branch]	retrieves the latest changes of a working version from the remote to the local
diff	displays a list of code changes since the last add

Typical workflow

# making a commit and pushing it online
$ git add -A
$ git commit -m "adding all files"
$ git push origin development

# getting code other people did (if any)
$ git pull support/newbranch

# doing an experiment (branching)
$ git checkout -b support/newbranch devlopment
$ git branch -a

# finding out the status of a project
$ git status
$ git diff