Version Control with Git

A practical introduction to version control using Git. In this workshop we cover

• creating a repository
• checking the status of a repository
• committing changes
• viewing and undoing changes
• reverting to older versions of files
• setting up a remote repository on github

The workshop presentation slides with exercies can be viewed at

google slide deck

You can attend this workshop in person. To find upcoming CCV events visit:

events.brown.edu/ccv

The aim of the workshop is to get you started using version control, which is a great skill to have as you develop code, scripts, and even your thesis. Anything that you edit can benefit from version control. Version control allows you to recover previous versions of your project, and it allows multiple people to work on the same documents. Git is an extremely powerful tool for version control, which you can start using in a simple way to make your life easier.

Checkout other workshops offered by the CCV HPC team.

To sign up for live events, go to the CCV Events Calendar

Important Concepts

Hidden files

Files that start with a . are hidden. There are two to be aware of for this workshop

~/.gitconfig

.gitignore

To view hidden files in a directory, use ls -a

Git stores a snapshot of your project

Your project in git is stored in a repository

Working on a project with git follows this pattern:

Edit / add / commit

• Edit your files with your new amazing science (this bit is up to you).

• git add - add a change to the staging area.

• git commit - take a snapshot of the project

Github

Github is a place online to store your git repositories, with some social media aspects. There are other services you can use, for example bitbucket and gitlab.

Git terminolgy

clone - copy a respository to your computer so you can work on it

fork - copy a respotiory for independent development

commit - make a snapshot of the repository

branch - branch off from the main developement to work on something

Git - where am I?

git log - see what commit you're on

git remote -v - see what remote repository you are tracking

git branch - find out what branch you are on

Viewing your changes

git status - see any edits you made

git diff - show difference between your files and the commited files

git diff --cached same as diff, but for files you have already added

Reverting changes

git log --oneline - a condense way to view the log

git revert - undo history but keep a record

git reset - undo history like it never happened Beware

Working with remotes

git pull - get changes from the remote repository

git push origin master - send your changes up to the remote repository

Storing local changes while you pull from a remote repository

Some times the changes you pull from a remote repository will conflict with your local changes. You can stash your local changes, pull the new changes from the remote repository, then pop your changes back.

git stash

git stash pop

Git commands used in this workshop

git init

git add

git status

git commit

git log

git log --oneline

git remote add origin https://github.com/…….

git push origin master

git checkout “commit#” “file”

git clone https://github.com/…….

git pull

git difftool --tool=xxdiff

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Checkout other workshops offered by the CCV HPC team.

To sign up for live events, go to the CCV Events Calendar