Git in five minutes

In this chapterUnderstand commits, branches and the edit-to-push workflow.

Git keeps the history of a project. Each time you save a meaningful step, Git stores a snapshot called a commit. Commits link to the one before them, forming a timeline.

• A repository (repo) is a project folder that Git tracks.
• A branch is a separate line of work, like feature/cart above, so you can try things without disturbing main.
• Merging brings a branch’s work back into another branch.
• Your repo usually also lives on a server (GitHub, GitLab…), called a remote. You push your commits to it and pull other people’s commits from it.

The daily loop looks like this:

Every commit records an author (a name and email). That’s why using the right account matters: the author is permanent, and the remote checks your key or token before accepting a push.