This document introduces version control and Git. It explains that Git is a distributed version control system created by Linus Torvalds that is widely used, especially for open source projects. It discusses what source control is and why it is useful, particularly for tracking changes on a line-by-line basis. The document outlines some key Git commands and concepts like branching, merging, and undoing changes. It notes both advantages of Git like its speed and cheap branching, and disadvantages like its complexity and better suitability for code vs binary files. Overall, the document provides a high-level overview of what Git is and why it is useful for software development.

1. GIT, VERSION CONTROL,
AND YOU.
An introduction to the tastiest version control system.
Ever.
Courtesy of Jeff Byrnes
jeff@jeffbyrn.es

2. WHATCHU TALKIN’ ‘BOUT?
• Who is this guy?
• What is Git?
• More importantly, what’s source control?
• Why do I need it?
• What makes Git so uber-sweet? And no so sweet?
• Get the party started
• Command me, o Git
• Back to the Future
• Branch me, baby
• Embracing conflict
• More resources

3. WHO IS THIS GUY?
• Jeff Byrnes
• Web Developer (self-
taught; HTML/CSS/PHP/JS)
• Trained Musician (upright &
electric bass)
• Learned Git in just a few
months, and now I’m here to
share!

4. WHAT IS GIT?
•A distributed version control system
• Created by Linus Torvalds, the guy behind Linux
• Used by lots of people, big to small (think Google, Twitter, etc.)
• Especially popular amongst open-source projects
• GitHub, anyone? jQuery, Linux, etc.

5. SOURCE CONTROL?
• Ever heard of this website?

6. SOURCE CONTROL?
• Source control is like a wiki for your text
• Lots of different systems (here’s three):
• CVS
• Subversion
• Mercurial
Sorry, there isn’t a logo for CVS. It was made way back when logos weren’t cool.

7. SOURCE CONTROL?
Server
• Oldersystems (CVS,
Subversion) are centralized
• Network access is required Committer Committer
• Everyone is dependent on
the server

8. SOURCE CONTROL?
Server
• Git(and a few others) are
distributed
• Thismeans every copy of
the repository is a clone Clone Clone
• Soyou can run off on your
own & go nuts, or even
push/pull to each other

9. SOURCE CONTROL?
• Well great, Jeff, but what if I’m a one-person operation?
• It’s also fast. Like whoa fast.
• It also tracks changes on a line-by-line basis, instead of on a
file-by-file basis
Give some examples of how line-by-line rocks the hizzouse

10. THE SWEET
•A history of your changes
• Line-by-line changes
• Cheap branching
• No server needed

11. THE NO-SO-SWEET
• Not great for binary files
(images, movies, etc.)
• Lots to learn
• Still
very much a
programmer’s tool

12. GET THE PARTY STARTED
• Install & identify yourself
• Mac & Linux users: rejoice
• Windows users: I’m sorry
• git init
• That’s it.
Be sure to go over git config --global for username & email

13. AT YOUR COMMAND
• git add
• git commit
• git branch
• git merge
• git push / git pull

14. BACK TO THE FUTURE
(THINK, MCFLY, THINK!)
• Lots of commands to undo
• Here’s the two basic ones:
• git revert
• git reset

15. BRANCH ME
•A branch is a separate
strand of work
• Think features, bug fixes,
flights of fancy
• git checkout -b
branchname
Branches are cheap, and should be used wildly. Explain how checking out a branch changes
the whole working tree.

16. EMBRACE CONFLICT
(MERGES AREN’T SCARY)
• Git is conservative
• Git always defers to your judgment
• Throws a merge conflict if it even thinks something is awry
• GUItools (e.g., Tower, Sourcetree, TortoiseGit) make merges
way easier

17. MORE RESOURCES
• Git - git-scm.com
• Git Book - book.git-scm.com
• Successful branching model - nvie.com/posts/a-successful-git-
branching-model/
• Git Ready - gitready.com
• Get Started w/ Git - alistapart.com/articles/get-started-with-git/
• Git Reference - gitref.org
• Think Like A Git - think-like-a-git.net
• Interactive Git Cheatsheet - ndpsoftware.com/git-cheatsheet.html