A NEWBIE'S GUIDE TO GIT(gitbash).

Published: 1 day ago (January 17, 2026 at 04:35 AM EST)

4 min read

Source: Dev.to

Are you a newbie on Git like me?

Check out this article on how you can install and configure Git (also known as Git Bash) and connect it to your GitHub account on a Windows operating system, using commands and prompts.

Definitions

GitHub – A cloud‑based platform that lets you create, store, manage, track, and share code. It enables collaboration on projects.
Git / Git Bash – A command‑line version‑control interface that lets you interact with GitHub (or any other remote repository) using prompts and commands.

Fun fact about Git

Git uses the SHA‑1 (and increasingly SHA‑256) cryptographic hashing algorithm to identify every commit. This ensures that the code cannot be altered or corrupted without detection.

Commit – A permanent record of your code at a specific point in time; a checkpoint that can be secured using cryptography.

Now that you know the tools, let’s get started!

How to create a GitHub account

Open your default browser, search GitHub, click the first link, and sign up.
Or go directly to: https://github.com/join
Fill in the required fields (profile picture, name, bio, etc.).

Congratulations! You have successfully created a GitHub account.

How to install Git / Git Bash

Open your browser and search Git.
Or follow this link: https://git-scm.com/
Choose your operating system (Windows, macOS, Linux, etc.).
Click the “click here to download” button (see image below).
Once the installer finishes downloading, run it.
Tip: Choose Visual Studio as your default code editor during the installation steps.

Follow each step carefully until the installation completes.

Connecting Git to your GitHub account (using the command line)

Launch Git Bash (or any terminal where Git is available).

Run the following commands in order:

# Check Git version
git --version

# Configure your name and email (use the same ones you used for GitHub)
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

# Verify the configuration
git config --list

# Generate an SSH key (your unique digital identity)
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "you@example.com"

# Start the SSH agent
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

# Add the SSH key to the agent
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

# Display the public key (to copy it later)
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Add the SSH key to GitHub
- Open the file shown by cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub in Visual Studio (or any editor) and copy its contents.
- In GitHub, go to Settings → SSH & GPG keys → New SSH key, paste the key, and save.
Verify the connection
```
ssh -T git@github.com
```
You should see a message similar to:

Congratulations! Your Git and GitHub accounts are now linked.

A few more useful Git commands

1. Version control basics

Git takes a snapshot of every commit in the entire project.
It provides an audit trail: who changed what, when, and why.
You can restore any previous version because each commit is stored permanently and unaltered.

2. Pushing and pulling code

Pushing – Sends your local commits to a remote repository (e.g., GitHub).

git add .
git commit -m "Your commit message"
git push origin main   # replace 'main' with your branch name

Pulling – Retrieves changes from the remote repository and merges them into your local copy.
```
git pull origin main   # replace 'main' with your branch name
```
Alternative pull with rebase
```
git pull --rebase
```

These commands let you keep your local work in sync with the shared repository and collaborate smoothly with other developers.

3. Tracking code on Git

Below are a few commands to monitor changes in your working directory:

Check the project’s current overall status
```
git status
```
View exact code changes
```
git diff
```
Check the changes waiting to be committed (staged)
```
git diff --staged
```
View full history or logs
```
git log
```
Condensed view of your history
```
git log --oneline
```
History of a specific file
```
git log -- <file>
```
Detailed view of a specific commit
```
git show <commit-hash>
```

Thank you for reading my article to the end!! I hope you find it informative and educational. Please comment and let me know what you think about my article!!

Adios, until the next one.

Signed
Jules.