Stage 5 of 8 · 8 lessons · ~3 weeks

Git fundamentals

Learn how Git actually stores your work, then use it daily: small commits, clear messages, branches, merging and rebasing, resolving conflicts and undoing mistakes without losing anything.

Start: How Git thinks: snapshots and history

Lessons· one lesson for each topic, in this order

Do this

Create a repository with a .gitignore before the first commit.
Make 10 small commits using `git add -p` for at least two of them.
Rewrite three of your old commit messages into clear summaries (on a practice repo).
Create a branch, make changes on both it and main, and merge them.
Create a conflict on purpose and resolve it, then run your tests.
Rebase a feature branch onto main and compare the log with a merge.
Undo a commit with `git revert`, and recover a "lost" commit with `git reflog`.
Finish the main levels of Learn Git Branching.

Start with· follow one of these

BookFree
Pro Git
Scott Chacon and Ben Straub
The free official Git book; chapters 2 and 3 cover everything in this stage properly
CourseFree
The Missing Semester of Your CS Education
MIT · Beginner
The version control lecture teaches Git from its data model upwards, which makes commands make sense

Practise

Learn Git Branching
Visual, interactive levels for branching, merging and rebasing where you see the graph change
GitHub Skills: Introduction to GitHub
A guided exercise inside a real repository: branch, commit and open a pull request

Keep handy

Oh Shit, Git!?!
Plain-English fixes for the most common Git mistakes, for when you panic
How to Write a Git Commit Message
The seven rules of a good commit message, with reasons for each

Also worth your time

roadmap.sh: Git and GitHubGo deeper
A map of Git and GitHub topics, from basics to hooks, submodules and Actions

Before moving on: A personal repository with at least 20 meaningful commits across several branches, one merge, one rebase, one resolved conflict and one reverted commit, plus a short note describing each situation and the commands you used.

Tauseef's advice

Commit small and often, and read `git status` and `git diff` before every commit. Nearly everything in Git can be undone if it was committed, and almost nothing can be if it was not. When you are scared, stop, run `git status`, and remember that reflog exists.