Git, one at a time

Interactive lesson · about 10 minutes · beginner friendly · no setup

Whether you have used Git for years or have never opened a terminal, this lesson shows you what Git actually does, by letting you do it. The trick is one idea: every time you save, Git takes a photo of your whole project. Once you can see the photos, branches, merges, and rebases all make sense.

By the end, you will be able to:

  • Take snapshots of your work and travel back to any earlier one.
  • Explain what a commit really is: a full photo of your files, not a list of changes.
  • See a branch for what it is: a movable label, not a copy of your files.
  • Read a commit timeline by following HEAD to a branch to a photo and the photo before it.
  • Tell merge and rebase apart, and know which one is safe to use when.

An interactive lesson by Chalece DeLaCoudray

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