Ebook: Command Line Git : Everything you need to know to get started: Illustrated guide to Git with useful mental models and exercises

This book explains how to use Git from command line on Windows, Mac OS and Linux.

It is a guide that will help you understand how Git works.
It is designed to give you the necessary knowledge to get started without overwhelming you with too much information.

The goal of this book is to get you up and running using Git from the command line as quickly as possible without overwhelming you with too much information. To make the learning process more intuitive and engaging, I use mental models, analogies and metaphors to help you understand and remember the concepts. I also use diagrams and illustrations. They help you visualize complex ideas and also serve as a bit of entertainment to keep you engaged. At the end of each chapter, you will find exercises that are crafted to reinforce the concepts you have just learned. These exercises are hands-on tasks that allow you to apply the new knowledge. By practicing what you learn, you understand the topics better and solidify the information in your memory. It is important to do the exercises. They will help you learn Git faster.

Why Use the Command Line? Git has many applications with graphical user interfaces (GUI). Some of them are very good. So why use the command line? I believe using Git from the command line is the best way to learn it. It’s also the most flexible way to use it. You won’t be limited to a particular GUI application or an editor plugin. You will be able to use Git from a remote server, from a virtual machine or from a Docker container. So you’ll be a lot more powerful.

Small startups and big companies use Git in their workflows:

to deploy projects
to collaborate
to find and fix bugs
to backup code

There is simply no way around it if you are a Software Developer.

The problem is it can be very confusing.

Git has many commands each with its own set of options.Commands can behave differently depending on their options.
The command line interface has no visual guidance.You have to use your imagination to understand what is going on.
The concepts used by Git: diff, staging, commits, branches, remotes, etc.It is not always clear what they mean and how they work.
If you get stuck with Git and search for help – you’ll find two kinds of resources

Specific recipes that you have to follow blindly
Reference manuals full of complex terminology and technical details

This book is different:

It is a guide that will help you understand how Git works.
It is designed to give you the necessary knowledge to get started without overwhelming you with too much information.

Key Features:

Mental Models – analogies and visualizations to help you understand how Git works.
Illustrations – the book has illustrations that will help you understand the concepts better and make them more memorable.
Exercises – each chapter has exercises that will help you understand and remember the concepts better. They will also help you develop the muscle memory for the commands.
Example Repositories – most exercises have example repositories that you can use to experiment with Git. This will be very useful even after you finish the book. You will be able to use them as testing grounds if you got stuck with a problem in your project.

How This Book Helps:

First it goes over a typical workflow explaining what happens at each step.
Then it goes over the most important commands and concepts.
To help you understand and remember the concepts, the book uses analogies and visualizations.
In the end of each chapter there are exercises that use example repositories.
These exercises will help you understand and remember the concepts better.
The example repositories that come with the exercises also serve as laboratories where you can experiment with Git.

This will be very useful even after you finish the book. You will be able to use them as testing grounds if you got stuck with a problem in your project.