Using GIT

GIT is a distributed version control system. Unlike SVN, which is centralised, each copy of a git project tree contains it's very own repository. This makes it easier to create branches and forks for development without polluting the main code trunk.

• To start your first local git repository:
  1. Initialise the repository
     

     git init

  2. Add all the files in the current directory
     

     git add .

  3. Commit your initial import
     

     git commit

• To monitor changes and logs in your code:

1. View the revision history
   

   git log

2. View the file changes in the repository
   

   git diff

3. View the changes for a specific revision and file/directory path
   

   git diff revision path

4. Summary of the current changes to the repository
   

   git status

•  Some house cleaning functions:

1. To add a file:
   

   git add file

2. To remove a file:
   

   git rm file

3. To move a file:
   

   git mv file

4. To remove all untracked files (such as temporary files used during compilation):
   

   git clean

•  Configure your git instance

1. Change your username
   

   git config --global user.name "Your Name"

2. Change your email
   

   git config --global user.email email@domain.com

•  Common functions

1. Clone an existing repository
   

   git clone url

2. Fetch the changes from remote master repository
   

   git fetch

3. Similar to above, but this command will merge the changes as well
   

   git pull

4. Push your changes to a remote repository
   

   git push url

5. Commit all your changes to the local repository
   

   git commit -a

6. Edit your last commit with latest changes
   

   git commit --append

7. Toss away your last commit
   

   git reset HEAD^

8. Assign blame for problematic files
   

   git blame file

• Tags and branches

1. Tags a version
   

   git tag -a name

2. List tags
   

   git tag -l

3. Show the details about a tag
   

   git show tag

4. Create a new branch
   

   git branch branch

5. Switch to a branch
   

   git checkout branch

6. Delete a branch
   

   git branch -d branch

7. List all branches
   

   git branch

8. Merges a branch to our current working branch
   

   git merge branch

 References
http://schacon.github.com/git/gittutorial.html
http://gitref.org