Git Basics

Understand version control with git. Run real git commands and save the output to a file as evidence.

Duration: 25 minLevel: BeginnerExercises: 5

Your first git commits

Git basics: your first commits

Git is the standard tool for version control of code: it stores snapshots of your files so you can trace and roll back every change. Every developer uses it daily.

Key terms

Repository (repo): a project folder managed by Git (git init creates it).
Branch: a line of development; the main branch is usually called main today.
Staging (git add): you choose which changes go into the next snapshot.
Commit (git commit): a saved snapshot with a description.
Log (git log): the list of all commits.

Work in the folder /home/student/git-uebung/. git status shows you where you stand after every step.

How the checker works

It looks directly into your repository (read-only): whether it exists, which branch you are on, which files Git knows and which commits exist. You do not need to copy any output into files.

Your goal

You create a repo, rename the branch, add a file, make your first commit and build a small history.

Exercises

1. Initialize a repository
Concept: initialise a repository. git init turns a normal folder into a Git repository (it creates a hidden .git folder).
```
mkdir -p /home/student/git-uebung && cd /home/student/git-uebung
git init
git status
```
Check: git status in the folder /home/student/git-uebung reports No commits yet instead of not a git repository. The checker looks directly into your repository.
2. Read and rename the branch
Concept: branch. The first line of git status tells you which branch (line of development) you are on — in a fresh repo often master. Many projects call the main branch main today. Rename it and check the result:
```
cd /home/student/git-uebung
git status
git branch -m main
git status
```
Check: git status starts with On branch main.
3. Track a file
Concept: staging with git add. Before a file goes into a commit, you must "stage" it — Git then keeps it ready. Create a file, stage it and look at the status each time:
```
cd /home/student/git-uebung
echo "hello" > hallo.txt
git status
git add hallo.txt
git status
```
Before git add, hallo.txt is listed under Untracked files, afterwards under Changes to be committed.

Check: git status lists hallo.txt under Changes to be committed.
4. Make your first commit
Concept: commit. A commit saves the staged changes as a snapshot with a description (-m). Git wants to know who makes the commit — set your name and email once (a made-up address is fine):
```
cd /home/student/git-uebung
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.org"
git commit -m "first commit"
```
Check: git log --oneline shows a line like 1a2b3c4 first commit.
5. Second commit and history
Concept: commit history. Every commit attaches to the previous one — that is how the history grows. Change hallo.txt, commit the change and look at the history:
```
cd /home/student/git-uebung
echo "second line" >> hallo.txt
git commit -am "second commit"
git log --oneline
```
-a automatically includes all known, changed files. With --oneline you get one line per commit: the shortened commit ID (hash) plus the message.

Check: git log --oneline shows at least two commits.

Knowledge check: Git basics

No VM, about 3 minutes. You recall what you practised in this module – wrong answers come back once more at the end.

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Your first git commits

Git basics: your first commits

Key terms

How the checker works

Your goal

Exercises

1. Initialize a repository

2. Read and rename the branch

3. Track a file

4. Make your first commit

5. Second commit and history

Knowledge check: Git basics

Related courses

Now practice it yourself