Frequently used git commands

Github needs no introduction. If you are unfamiliar with git, its a version control system for tracking changes in computer (programming) codes. “GitHub Inc. is a web-based hosting service for version control using Git. It is mostly used for computer code. It offers all of the distributed version control and source code management functionality of Git as well as adding its own features.”1

Copying a remote repository to local

To bring a remote repository to your local host (computer where you are working), use the git clone command.

git clone https://github.com/username/repository_name.git

Publishing the changes

After you update your code or add or remove anything from the repository, you want to publish to the remote repository.

Publishing the changes is called push in git jargon. For that you need to write the following codes.

git add -A 
git commit -m "Message/notes of what the changes are"

This will update the local repository. Now you want to publish the changes using the following command

git push

You may want to be more specific about which remote to update. The default remote is origin. The command would be

git push origin master

Syncing a remote repository on two local hosts

Sometime I work on two or three different computers for the same remote project. So keeyping the repositories in sync is essential. I want my codes to be synced accross multiple computers.

For that I follow these simple steps.

- Pull the remote repository in your new workstation
- Make changes to your code
- Push (publish) the updates

The key is to pull and update the local repository assuming the remote has the latest updates.

git pull
git add -A
git comit -m "Update message"
git push origin master

Last updated: 2018-07-30

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