Git Introduction
git is a distributed version control system that allows developers to track changes to files, collaborate with others, and manage codebases. It was created by Linus Torvalds in 2005 and has since become one of the most widely used tools for source version control.
One of the main advantages of Git is its distributed nature. Each developer has a complete copy of the codebase, including the full history of changes. This allows developers to work on the codebase independently and merge their changes together later.
When using Git, developers create a repository, which is a collection of files and their history of changes. They can then make changes to files, commit those changes, and push those changes to a remote repository, which is a copy of the repository stored on a server. Other developers can then pull those changes from the remote repository and continue working on the project.
Git also includes powerful branching and merging features, allowing developers to create new branches to work on features or bug fixes without affecting the main codebase. They can then merge those branches back into the main codebase once the changes are complete.
Some benefits of using Git include
- It provides a complete history of changes, allowing developers to see who made changes and when they were made.
- It enables collaboration between developers, allowing them to work on the same codebase without conflicts.
- It allows for the easy rollback of changes if a mistake is made.
- It helps with code review, as changes can be reviewed before they are merged into the main codebase.
- It enables developers to experiment with new features and bug fixes without affecting the main codebase.
Git Hosting Platforms
Git Hosting Platforms are web-based services that provide a user interface for managing Git repositories. They also provide additional features for collaboration, issue tracking, and continuous integration and deployment.
GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket are the most widely used Git hosting platforms. All of them provide free and paid plans based on the services and features you need.
GitHub is one of the most popular Git hosting platforms, with over 100 million repositories hosted as of 2021. It is often used for open-source projects and offers a variety of collaboration features such as pull requests, issue tracking, and wikis.
GitLab is a self-hosted or cloud-based Git hosting platform that offers similar collaboration features as GitHub. In addition, GitLab includes features for continuous integration and deployment, such as a built-in CI/CD pipeline.
Bitbucket is another popular Git hosting platform, particularly for small teams and businesses. It offers similar collaboration features as GitHub and GitLab, as well as integrations with other Atlassian products such as Jira and Confluence.