Beginner’s Guide to Git: Version Control, Push, Pull, and Tracking Changes

Source: Dev.to

Introduction

Git is a version control system that helps you track changes, collaborate with others, and safely manage your code. This guide is written for beginners and explains the core ideas behind Git in simple terms.

What is Version Control?

Version control keeps a history of changes to files. It allows you to:

• Go back to earlier versions
• See what changed and who changed it
• Work with others without overwriting work

What is Git?

Git is a distributed version control system. Every developer has a full copy of the project and its history. Git is different from GitHub, which is just a hosting platform for Git projects.

Key Concepts

• Repository – A folder tracked by Git
• Commit – A saved snapshot of changes
• Branch – A parallel line of development
• Remote – A copy of the repository hosted online

Tracking Changes

# Check status
git status

# Stage files
git add .

# Save changes
git commit -m "Your commit message"

Pushing Code

Pushing sends your commits to a remote repository:

git push origin main

Pulling Code

Pulling brings the latest changes from a remote repository:

git pull origin main

Daily Workflow

1. Pull latest changes
2. Edit files
3. Add changes (git add .)
4. Commit changes (git commit -m "message")
5. Push to remote (git push origin main)

Why Learn Git?

Git helps you work safely, collaborate easily, and is a required skill for most developers.