Git is a distributed version control software created by Linus Torvalds to manage the Linux kernel source code . Personally, I use Git, along with GitHub , to manage:

• The source code for the software I develop ;
• The source code and compiled files for my website ;
• The source code for the books I’ve written ;
• My notes, written with Obsidian .

Git allows me to track every change and, overall, the evolution of a repository. It’s well-suited to handle any file that can be represented as text. This is why, for the past few years, I’ve been using Markdown  to write text and have embraced the Documentation as Code approach.

Git is a vital tool that should be mastered by anyone working in IT, but it’s essential for developers.

Before getting started, here are some important considerations:

• Storage: Git saves every version of every file. For text files, we know that changes can be represented by just the lines that have been modified, but for binary files, a revision often means saving a full copy of the file. So, keep in mind that a repository may grow in size, and it might require maintenance to reduce the space used, which will improve its performance.
• Clean Structure: Especially when working in a team, it’s important to adopt a common workflow. The repository should only contain the files necessary to recreate the environment and avoid cache, compiled, or temporary files.
• Security: Since Git saves permanent copies of all files added to the repository, be cautious about including files with sensitive information like passwords. While you can remove references to such files locally, this process isn’t fully effective on third-party platforms like GitHub.

In this series of posts, we’ll explore the fundamentals of Git. For those interested in learning more, I recommend the following resources:

• Pro Git Book  by Scott Chacon and Ben Straub
• GIT for Beginners  by Anthony Baire

Working Locally

Let’s start working with Git by creating a local repository. Any empty or non-empty directory can be initialized as a Git repository:

The commands above create a .git directory, which contains all the information for the repository. As long as this directory remains intact, the contents of the repository are safe.

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