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Git basic: essential commands - Part 1

akdevcraft

AK DevCraft

Posted on September 11, 2021

Git basic: essential commands - Part 1

This post contains a list of basic Git essential commands that are very handy.

1. Setup Git configs for new user

This will associate the user's details with a commit, this will set up Git configs at the global level:

  • Setup user name 
git config --global user.name "User Name"
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  • Setup email address 
git config --global user.email "someone@somehwere.com"
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  • List user's Git config 
git config --list

--Output--

user.name=User Name
user.email=someone@somehwere.com
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  • Setup alias/shortcut for Git commands, e.g. setting status cmd as st 
git config --global alias.st status
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2. Setup auto-completion 

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/git/git/master/contrib/completion/git-completion.bash -o ~/.git-completion.bash
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Configure script based upon type of shell you're using:

  • bash add below script in .bash_profile file under home directory e.g. /home/username/.bash_profile
  • zsh add below script in .zshenv file under home directory e.g. /home/username/.zshenv

Script:

if [ -f ~/.git-completion.bash ]; then
  . ~/.git-completion.bash
fi
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3. File difference in the working directory

3.1 Simple way to see file difference 

git diff filename
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E.g.

ak@--mac git-useful-commands % git diff first-file.txt

--Output--

diff --git a/git-useful-commands/first-file.txt b/git-useful-commands/first-file.txt
index 86ac065..d2c8cc9 100644
--- a/git-useful-commands/first-file.txt
+++ b/git-useful-commands/first-file.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-my first file
+my first file modified
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3.2 Intuitive way to see file difference, it highlights what words were changed 

git diff --color-words filename
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E.g.

ak@--mac git-useful-commands % git diff --color-words first-file.txt

--Output--

diff --git a/git-useful-commands/first-file.txt b/git-useful-commands/first-file.txt
index 86ac065..d2c8cc9 100644
--- a/git-useful-commands/first-file.txt
+++ b/git-useful-commands/first-file.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
my first file **modified**
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4. File difference in staging index

4.1 Intuitive way to see file difference, it highlights what words were changed 

git diff --staged --color-words filename
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E.g.

ak@--mac git-useful-commands % git diff --staged --color-words first-file.txt

--Output--

diff --git a/git-useful-commands/first-file.txt b/git-useful-commands/first-file.txt
index 86ac065..d2c8cc9 100644
--- a/git-useful-commands/first-file.txt
+++ b/git-useful-commands/first-file.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
my first file **modified**
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Note: Remove --color-words option to get the difference in a regular way.

5. Remove/Delete file

It deletes the file and adds the change to the staging index

git rm filename
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E.g.

ak@--mac git-useful-commands % git rm third-file.txt 
rm 'git-useful-commands/third-file.txt'

--Output--

ak@--mac git-useful-commands % git st
On branch main
Your branch is ahead of 'origin/main' by 3 commits.
  (use "git push" to publish your local commits)

Changes to be committed:
  (use "git restore --staged <file>..." to unstage)
    deleted:    third-file.txt

ak@--mac git-useful-commands % git commit -m "Delete third file"
[main 4dcfd37] Delete third file
 1 file changed, 1 deletion(-)
 delete mode 100644 git-useful-commands/third-file.txt
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6. Rename the file

It renames the file and adds the change to the staging index

git mv filename new-filename
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E.g.

ak@--mac git-useful-commands % git mv first-file.txt first-text-file.txt

--Output--

ak@--mac git-useful-commands % git st                                   
On branch main
Your branch is ahead of 'origin/main' by 4 commits.
  (use "git push" to publish your local commits)

Changes to be committed:
  (use "git restore --staged <file>..." to unstage)
    renamed:    first-file.txt -> first-text-file.txt

ak@--mac git-useful-commands % git commit -m "Rename first file"
[main 3496e22] Rename first file
 1 file changed, 0 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
 rename git-useful-commands/{first-file.txt => first-text-file.txt} (100%)
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7. Check last commit metadata 

git log -n1
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E.g.

ak@--mac git-useful-commands % git log -n1

--Output--

commit 3496e22a89ce3990dcca942b9854acca5e0eff86 (HEAD -> main)
Author: Animesh <email@address.com>
Date:   Fri Sep 10 21:40:20 2021 -0500

    Rename first file
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Similarly use n2, n3, n4 ...nn to see last n commit's metadata

8. Check a particular commit details 

git show hashvalue
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E.g.
Get the hash/SHA1 value of the commit

ak@--mac git-useful-commands % git log -n1
commit 3a17071be9814994d392eb392fd5c7d17f5cb4cf (HEAD -> main)
Author: Animesh <email@address.com>
Date:   Fri Sep 10 21:40:20 2021 -0500

    Rename first file
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3a17071be9814994d392eb392fd5c7d17f5cb4cf is the hash/SHA1 value, to see details first few hex chars are enough, I'll be using first 7 chars

ak@--mac git-useful-commands % git show 3a17071

--Output--

commit 3a17071be9814994d392eb392fd5c7d17f5cb4cf (HEAD -> main)
Author: Animesh <email@address.com>
Date:   Fri Sep 10 21:40:20 2021 -0500

    Rename first file

diff --git a/git-useful-commands/first-file.txt b/git-useful-commands/first-file.txt
index d2c8cc9..a6d7017 100644
--- a/git-useful-commands/first-file.txt
+++ b/git-useful-commands/first-file.txt
@@ -1 +1,3 @@
 my first file modified
+
+Modify one more time
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I intended to keep the post short, hence I have divided it into two parts, part two is here Git basic: essential commands - Part 2

Happy Coding!

💖 💪 🙅 🚩
akdevcraft
AK DevCraft

Posted on September 11, 2021

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