Git Basics for Every Developer

This lesson provides a crash course on Git, a fundamental version control system for developers, and Github, the home for your Git repositories.

This lesson equips you with basic Git commands frequently used by developers. Think of it as a cheat sheet, and we will build on it throughout the course. Here’s all commands mentioned in the video:

Checking Git Installation:

• git --version - This command verifies if Git is already installed on your system and displays the version.

Git User Setup:

• git config --global user.name "John Doe" - Sets your Git username for global use.
• git config --global user.email "john@test.com" - Sets your Git email address for global use.

Initializing a Git Repository:

• git init -b main (in your project's root directory) - Initializes a new Git repository in your project directory and creates a new "main" branch.

Adding and Committing Changes:

• git add . - Adds all modified files in your project to the staging area.
• git commit -m "init" - Creates a commit with a descriptive message ("init" in this example).

Connecting to a Remote Repository:

• git remote add origin <URL> (replace <URL> with the repo’s SSH URL) - Adds the remote GitHub repository as "origin" for future operations.
• git push -u origin main - Pushes the initial commit ("init") to the remote "main" branch on GitHub.

Subsequent Updates:

After making changes to your local repository, use these commands to keep your remote repository updated:

• git add -A - Adds all modified files to the staging area.
• git commit -m "message" - Creates a commit with a descriptive message.
• git push origin main - Pushes your local commits to the remote "main" branch on GitHub.

Generating SSH Key:

• ls -al ~/.ssh - Checks if you have an existing SSH key on your machine.
• ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "youremail@example.com" - Generates an SSH key for secure communication with GitHub.
• pbcopy < filename (replace "filename" with your key's actual path and name) - Copies the generated SSH key to your clipboard.

Generating SSH Key (Windows):

• Get-ChildItem -Path $env:USERPROFILE.ssh - Checks if you have an existing SSH key on your machine.
• ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "youremail@example.com" - Generates an SSH key for secure communication with GitHub.
• Get-Content C:\Users\enterusernameHere.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | Set-Clipboard