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An introduction to Git
for beginners
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Published Jun 13, 2024

What is Git? Are Git and GitHub the same? How

do you get started with Git? What are the basic
Git commands a developer should know?

If you’re looking for answers to these

questions, Kedasha Kerr has your back. A
developer advocate at GitHub, Kedasha breaks
down the basics of Git in the video below and
in her blog post that covers Git for beginners.

To build your familiarity with Git, we’ll use this

issue of Branching Out_ to recap the
fundamentals covered by Kedasha and compile
resources that are readily accessible to you.
You’ll learn how to install and configure GIt as
well as the most common Git commands to run
while using the most widely used version
control system (VCS) in the world.

A brief introduction to Git for b…

Let’s start by answering this popular

question: Are Git and GitHub the same?

No, they’re not.

Git is a VCS that tracks file changes. GitHub is

a platform where developers can collaborate
and store their Git repository in the cloud. The
repository acts like a central hub for a project’s
files, documentation, and version history. (
Friendly reminder that this difference only
scratches the surface. Developers can do
much more on GitHub, which we’ll cover
below.)

To understand how a VCS like Git works, it

might help to understand how it doesn’t work.

As an example, let’s look at how you save your

resume files.

On your computer, you might have separate

files labeled resume, resumev2, resumev4, etc.
With version control, you wouldn’t need
separate files for each change to your resume.
You could keep one resume file because Git,
the VCS, would track all the changes for you.
So, you could have one file where you’d be able
to see the latest version of your resume by
default but choose to see, in that same file,
your resume’s history, previous versions, and
all the changes you’ve made over time.

Why, as a software developer, should you use

Git as a VCS to track file changes?

With Git, you can:

Save, back up, and restore previously

written code.

Work with multiple developers on a single

project without overwriting each other’s
changes. Each developer working on a main
project can write new features or experiment
with the source code without affecting the main
codebase.

Have a full copy of the project and project

history when you’re working, not just a copy of
the file you’re working on. Git is a distributed
VCS, or DVCS, which allows you to work offline
and without a constant connection to a central
repository. You only have to connect to the
central repository to push your changes or pull
updates from others.

Merge proposed code changes from

multiple developers into a single source. The
changes you and other developers make in your
own copies of the code can be merged into the
main codebase.

Identify and resolve conflicting code

changes proposed to the main codebase.

Track all code changes in addition to who

made the changes, when, and why.

Review a timeline of code changes and

decisions, which can clarify how a codebase
has evolved to its current state and why certain
changes were made.

You can see why Git is valuable for developers

who want to virtually collaborate on a project.
Its benefits apply to open source communities
and enterprise teams alike.

Fun fact: Git was released in 2005 and still

a new open source VCS when GitHub was
founded in 2008. In fact, only 2.4% of
companies adopted Git according to a 2009
Eclipse community survey. As of 2023, 93%
of developers are using Git, according to Stack
Overflow.

Want to take a walk down memory lane?

Check out this old Stack Exchange thread
about Git and Subversion or this history of Git.

Here are seven Git terms to know:

Working directory: this is where you make

changes to your files. It’s like your workspace,
holding the current state of your project that Git
hasn’t yet been told to track.

Staging area: also called the index, this is

where you prepare changes before committing
them. It’s like a draft space, allowing you to
review and adjust changes before they become
part of the project’s history.

Branches: branches are parallel versions of

your project. They allow you to work on
different features or fixes independently without
affecting the main project until you’re ready to
merge them back.

Local repository: your local repository is your

project’s history stored on your computer. It
includes all the commits and branches and acts
as a personal record of your project’s changes.

Remote repository: a remote repository is a

version of your project hosted on the internet or
network. It allows multiple people to collaborate
by pushing to and pulling from this shared
resource.

Pull request: a pull request is a way to propose

changes from one branch to another. It’s a
request to review, discuss, and possibly merge
the changes into the target branch, and is often
used in team collaborations.

Merge: merging is the process of integrating

changes from one branch into another. It
combines the histories of both branches,
creating a single, unified history.

So, what does GitHub have to do with Git?

You can use GitHub to host your Git

repositories. But if that’s all you use it for,
you’re missing out on everything else the
platform has to offer.

That’s not to say cloud storage isn’t a big deal.

It is. By hosting your code on GitHub, you won’t
lose your work if something happens to your
local machine. All we’re saying is you can do
more than that on a platform built specifically
for developers.

In addition to storing your code, here’s

everything else you can do on GitHub:

Share your work and collaborate with other

developers from all over the world. Use this
checklist and guide to get your repository
collaboration-ready. You can also engage with
developers using GitHub Discussions, a place
to ask open-ended questions and share your
ideas for a project.

Integrate GitHub tools and services directly

into your workflow. For example, with GitHub
Actions you can set up automated workflows to
verify and test your code whenever you push
changes to the main repository. This gives you
faster feedback about code changes and helps
you to catch and fix issues earlier in the
development pipeline.

Use AI-powered coding tools to improve

productivity. With GitHub Copilot, you can
prompt the AI coding assistant to gather and
synthesize information relevant to your task,
and for assistance in writing boilerplate or
tedious code.

Integrate third-party tools and services

directly into your workflow. Take JFrog, for
example. You can use CI/CD with GitHub
Actions and JFrog Artifactory to gain full
visibility over security findings across your
software supply chain and simplify governance
between source code and binaries.

Learn and work in the open with pull

requests. Pull requests allow developers to
review and discuss proposed changes before
they’re merged into the main branch. They can
improve code quality, facilitate collaboration
and communication, create transparency, and
capture context around changes made to the
codebase. In addition to their practical function,
pull requests generate and record rich learning
material for development teams.

Support GitHub’s global developer

community. With GitHub Sponsors, you can
financially support the hard-working
maintainers of open source projects that you
find valuable.

In other words, GitHub is more than just a GUI

for Git.

To learn more about how Git and GitHub

work together, read and complete:

Basics of Git

About GitHub and Git

Git cheat sheet

GitHub Skills course

GitHub Foundations Certificate

How do you get started with Git? Now

that you know the purpose and value of Git for
developers, here’s how you can start using it
today.

( For a visual walk-through of the steps

below, skip to this section in Kedasha’s video.)

First, you need to install Git on your machine.

To install Git on MacOS, here are the four

steps you need to follow:

Get instructions: go to git-

scm.com/downloads then click macOS.

Install Homebrew, which will allow you to easily

install software on your machine. Open up your
terminal. Copy the command /bin/bash -c
"$(curl -fsSL
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebre
w/install/HEAD/install.sh)" and paste it into the
terminal. Hit enter to run the command. This will
take a while to run so give it a few moments.

Once Homebrew is installed, return to the

download page. Open up your terminal and
paste the command brew install git and run it.
This will run the installer so you can have Git on
your system. When it runs successfully, you
now have Git on your machine!

Open up your terminal and run the command git

and you should see a list of all the commands
available.

Note: While macOS comes with a

preinstalled version of Git, you’ll still want to
download it to ensure you have the most up-
to-date version.

To install Git on Windows 11, here are the

steps you need to follow:

-If you’re using a Windows machine, click on

the Windows icon on the download page. This
will give you the most recent version of Git.

-Once you have that file on your machine,

double-click it and follow the onscreen wizard
prompts:

-Click the “Next” button for the following:

accept the terms, the location to save Git, and
the default selections.

-Reset the default branch name to “main” as

that’s the new convention.

-Click the “Next” button to accept the

recommended path, the bundled OpenSSH
program, and for all the other options.

-Click the “Install” button.

-Once Git is installed on the machine, click the

“Finish” button and open your terminal.

-Run the command git and you should see a

list of all the commands available.

To configure Git on your machine, follow

these four steps:

Open your terminal and type git config --global

user.name "FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME" git
config --global user.email
"MY_NAME@example.com" at the prompt.
Replace the values of FIRST_NAME,
LAST_NAME and MY_NAME@example.com
and then run the command. This tells Git who is
making future changes.

You can see all the other configuration options

that are available by running git config in your
terminal. (You don’t need to worry about those
options when you’re first configuring Git.)

For now, you can check who Git thinks you are
by running git config –list To see the
configuration options you just set.

Hit Q on your keyboard to exit the screen.

You’re all set up!

If you have questions or feedback, pop it in

the GitHub Community thread, and we’ll be
sure to respond!

What are some good-to-know Git

commands? Now that you have Git configured
on your machine, you’re ready to start running
commands.

We have a top 12 list of Git commands every

developer must know and a list of basic Git
commands. We’ll share a few below.

Git config

Congratulations, you already ran this one when

you set up Git on your machine!

Git init

This command initializes a new Git repository.

Before you run this command, you need to

create a folder, or directory. Create a new
folder with the command mkdir git-practice
and then run cd git-practice to go into the
folder you just created. Open the folder in your
code editor.

From here, you can run the git init command to

initiate a new Git repository so that Git tracks
all changes made in this directory.

Git status

Run this command to see all tracked changes

to your directory.

You can see what files have been added,

deleted, or modified. If you run this command
in a directory with no files, it should return
“nothing to commit.”

For more practice, create a new file in your

sample folder by running touch hello.md and
then run git status again. Now, you should see
that you have an untracked file, hello.md.

An untracked file is one that hasn’t been added

to the staging area. To add files to the staging
area, you can use the git add command.

Git add

There are a few ways to use this command. For

example, you can use git add . to add all files to
the staging area from the working directory or
use git add filename to add a specific file to the
staging area.

Try creating a new file called learning.py and

another file called waiting.py.

Now, run git status so you can see your

changes. Then, run git add learning.py to add
this file to the staging area.

If you run git status again, you’ll see that

learning.py is in the staging area and
waiting.py is untracked and in the working
directory.

If you make additional changes to the tracked

files in your directory, you’ll need to run git add
again for Git to record those changes.

To practice tracking new changes, add the

code print (“I'm learning git") to learning.py.

Then, run git status in the terminal. You’ll see

that the learning.py file has been modified and
has untracked changes.

Run git add learning.py to keep track of these

newer changes.

Git commit To “commit” a change is to store a

version of your project in the Git history.

Currently, learning.py and hello.md are

tracked, while waiting.py is untracked.

Run git commit -m "initial commit" and then

run git status afterward.

You’ll see that you have “2 files changed, 1

insertion in git” because you just added two
new files and one of the files has one line of
code. You’lll also see that you have an
untracked file—waiting.py—because that file
was never added to the staging area.

If you add new changes to the learning.py file,

you can add both files to the staging area along
with any other changes you make by running a
git add. git commit -m "add waiting file and
new function" command.

Bookmark the GitHub for Beginners page on

the GitHub blog to stay updated on our latest
posts and keep it moving on your Git journey!

If you want even more hands-on learning and

to interact with the GitHub community in
person, “git” your boss to send you to
Universe this fall. Not sure how? We have
you covered. Check out our cheat sheet now!

Supercharge your productivity with our biweekly

newsletter just for developers.

More GitHub goodness:

Subscribe to our developer newsletter.

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Repost this newsletter to your network.

This newsletter was written by Nicole Choi

and produced by Gwen Davis.

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