Git Basics: Initial Setup, File Operations, Remote Repositories, Branches, and Conflict Resolution

Step 1: Basic Git configuration. Set the global username and email:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"

git config --global user.email "[email protected]"

View the current configuration:

git config --list

Initialize a new repository:

git init

Step 2: File operations within the repository. Check the status of the working directory:

git status

Add files to the staging area (single file or all files):

git add filename

git add -A

Commit staged changes with a message:

git commit -m "Your commit message"

Delete a file from the working directory and the repository:

rm "filename"

git rm "filename"

Undo changes: revert a file in the working directory to the last committed state:

git checkout -- "filename"

Unstage a file (move from staging back to working directory):

git reset HEAD "filename"

Step 3: Working with remote repositories. Clone an existing remote repository:

git clone "repository_url"

Push local commits to the remote repository:

git push

Alternatively, add a remote manually and push:

git remote add origin "repository_url"

git push -u origin master

Remove an existing remote:

git remote remove origin

Generate an SSH key for password‑less authentication:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "[email protected]"

Step 4: Branch management. Create a new branch:

git checkout -b "branch_name"

Switch to an existing branch:

git checkout "branch_name"

Merge a branch into the current branch (typically master):

git merge "branch_name"

Delete a local branch:

git branch -d "branch_name"

Delete a remote branch:

git push -d origin "branch_name"

Push a local branch to the remote repository:

git push origin "branch_name"

List all branches:

git branch

Step 5: Conflict resolution. When merging a branch causes conflicts, Git will indicate the conflicting files. Edit the files to resolve the conflicts, then add and commit the changes:

git add "conflicted_file"

git commit -m "Resolve merge conflict"

If a conflict occurs during a push, first synchronize with the remote repository:

git pull

Resolve any reported conflicts, then commit and push again. Note that attempting to merge without pulling first will fail.