Master Git: From Basics to Advanced Branch, Conflict, and Revert Techniques

What Is Git?

Git is a free, open‑source distributed version control system (DVCS). It stores a complete copy of the repository on each developer’s machine, allowing offline work and fast operations on projects of any size.

Four Working Areas

Workspace : the files on the local filesystem that are under Git’s control.

Index/Stage : the staging area (usually .git/index) where changes are prepared for a commit.

Repository : the local commit history; HEAD points to the latest commit.

Remote : a repository hosted on a service such as GitHub, GitLab, or Gitee.

Typical Workflow

Pull changes from a remote repository.

Modify files in the workspace.

Add the changes to the staging area.

Commit the staged changes to the local repository.

Push the new commits to the remote repository.

File States

Untracked : not yet added to Git.

Unmodified : tracked and unchanged.

Modified : tracked but changed.

Staged : changes added to the index, ready to commit.

Common Git Commands for Daily Development

Clone a repository: git clone REPO_URL Create and switch to a new branch: git checkout -b dev Add changes: git add . or git add FILE Commit changes: git commit -m "message" Show status: git status or git status -s View log: git log or git log --oneline Show differences: git diff (with various options)

Pull or fetch updates: git pull / git fetch Push commits:

git push

Branch Management

git branch : create, list, or delete branches.

git branch dev2          # create branch dev2
git branch -D dev2      # delete local branch dev2
git branch -a           # list local and remote branches

git checkout : switch branches. git checkout master # switch to master git merge : integrate changes from another branch.

git merge dev          # merge dev into current branch
git merge --no-ff origin/dev
git merge --abort      # abort a conflicted merge

Handling Merge Conflicts

Identify conflicted files (e.g., git status).

Edit the file, keep the desired sections, and remove conflict markers ( <<<<<HEAD, =======, >>>>>dev).

Stage the resolved file and commit.

git add FILE
git commit -m "Resolve conflict"

Undo and Revert Operations

Discard Unstaged Changes

git checkout FILE   # discard changes to a single file
git checkout .     # discard all workspace changes

git reset

Move HEAD and optionally modify the index and workspace. git reset HEAD -- FILE – unstage a file. git reset --soft COMMIT – keep changes staged. git reset --mixed COMMIT – keep changes in the workspace. git reset --hard COMMIT – discard all changes.

git revert

Create a new commit that undoes a previous commit without rewriting history.

git revert -n COMMIT   # revert but keep changes unstaged for further editing

Tagging Releases

git tag               # list tags
git tag v1.0          # create lightweight tag on HEAD
git tag -a v1.0 -m "release"   # annotated tag
git tag -d v1.0       # delete local tag
git push origin v1.0  # push tag to remote
git checkout -b new-branch v1.0   # create branch from a tag

Other Classic Commands

git rebase : reapply commits on top of another base. git rebase master git stash : temporarily save work.

git stash
git stash list
git stash pop

git reflog : view the reference log of HEAD. git reflog git blame FILE : show line‑by‑line author information.

git remote : manage remote repositories.

git remote -v
git remote add origin REPO_URL
git remote show origin

References

"一个小时学会Git" – https://www.cnblogs.com/best/p/7474442.html

"Git 工作区、暂存区、版本库、远程仓库" – https://www.cnblogs.com/qdhxhz/p/9757390.html

"Git Reset 三种模式" – https://www.jianshu.com/p/c2ec5f06cf1a

"Git 恢复之前版本的两种方法 reset、revert（图文详解）" – https://blog.csdn.net/yxlshk/article/details/79944535

"Git 撤销&回滚操作 (git reset 和 git revert)" – https://blog.csdn.net/asoar/article/details/84111841

"为什么要使用 git pull --rebase？" – https://www.jianshu.com/p/dc367c8dca8e