Git

Branching and Merging

• Branching allows you to work on new features or fixes without affecting the main code.
• git branch <branch-name> – creates a new branch.
• git checkout <branch-name> – switches to the branch.
• git switch <branch-name> – alternative to checkout (recommended in newer versions).
• git merge <branch-name> – merges the specified branch into the current branch.
• Helps in parallel development, testing, and safer collaboration.

Remote Operations

• Remote repositories are versions of your project hosted online (e.g., GitHub, GitLab).
• git remote add origin <URL> – links your local repo to a remote.
• git push – uploads your commits from local to remote.
• git pull – fetches and merges changes from the remote to your local branch.
• git fetch – only downloads changes (doesn’t merge).
• Keeps your local and remote repositories in sync for collaboration.

GitHub / GitLab Basics

• GitHub and GitLab are platforms to host Git repositories online.

• Features:

  • Remote storage and version control
  • Collaboration via Pull Requests / Merge Requests
  • Issue tracking, discussions, project boards
  • Private or public repositories
  • GitHub Pages (for static website hosting)
• GitHub is widely used; GitLab is popular for built-in CI/CD and DevOps tools.