Git and GitHub: Step-by-Step Guide

Let’s explore how to interact with Git and GitHub, focusing on pushing, pulling, and cloning files between your local machine and GitHub.

1. Setting Up Git

Before you start, ensure you have Git installed. You can download it from git-scm.com.

Configure Git with your name and email:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

2. Creating a New Repository on GitHub

1. Go to GitHub: Log in to your GitHub account and navigate to the repositories tab.
2. Create a New Repository: Click the “New” button to create a new repository. Provide a name and optional description, and choose to make it public or private.

3. Cloning a Repository

To clone a repository means to create a local copy of the repository from GitHub.

# Clone using HTTPS
git clone https://github.com/username/repo-name.git

# Clone using SSH
git clone git@github.com:username/repo-name.git

4. Working with Files

Add files to your repository or make changes to existing ones.

# Create a new file
echo "Hello, GitHub" > file.txt

5. Checking the Status

Check the status of your working directory and staging area.

git status

6. Adding Changes to Staging Area

Add files to the staging area.

# Add a specific file
git add file.txt

# Add all changes
git add .

7. Committing Changes

Commit the changes in the staging area to your local repository.

git commit -m "Add greeting to file.txt"

8. Pushing Changes to GitHub

Push your local commits to GitHub.

# Push using HTTPS
git push origin main

# Push using SSH
git push origin main

Example Workflow: From Local to GitHub

Initialize a Local Repository:

mkdir MyProject
cd MyProject
git init

Create and Edit Files:

echo "Hello, GitHub" > hello.txt
git add hello.txt
git commit -m "Add hello.txt with greeting"

Push to GitHub:

git remote add origin https://github.com/username/MyProject.git
git push -u origin main

Pulling Changes from GitHub

To pull changes from a remote repository and integrate them into your local repository:

git pull origin main

Example Workflow: Collaboration

Clone the Repository:

git clone https://github.com/username/MyProject.git
cd MyProject

Make Changes and Push:

echo "New line" >> hello.txt
git add hello.txt
git commit -m "Add new line to hello.txt"
git push origin main

Fetch and Merge Changes:

git fetch origin
git merge origin/main

Detailed Explanation of Commands

git log --oneline

Shows a simplified log of commits.

Example:

git log --oneline

Output:

94ebf5f (HEAD -> ramukaka) ramukka
421b92c (tag: rel1.0, master) cherry2
8aa52e5 file10
...

61c4cfc (origin/master, origin/HEAD) adding other user

• 61c4cfc: Commit hash.
• (origin/master, origin/HEAD): Indicates this commit is pointed to by both origin/master and origin/HEAD.
• adding other user: Commit message.