Master Git: Understand Workspaces, Staging, and Commit Workflows

1.1 Four Work Areas

Git has four work areas: Working Directory, Index (Stage), Repository (Git Directory), and Remote Directory. Files move among these areas during version control.

Workspace

The place where you keep project files.

Index / Stage

A temporary area that stores changes before they are committed; it is essentially a file that records the list of changes to be committed.

Repository

The safe storage for all committed versions; HEAD points to the latest commit.

Remote

A remote server that hosts the repository, acting like a shared computer for team collaboration.

1.2 Typical Workflow

1. Modify or add files in the Working Directory. 2. Add files to the Index (stage them). 3. Commit staged files to the Repository. Thus files can be in three states: Modified, Staged, Committed.

1.3 File States

Git tracks files as Untracked, Modified, Staged, or Unmodified. Untracked files are not yet added to the repository; they become Staged after git add. Modified files are changed in the Working Directory; they become Staged after git add. Staged files become Unmodified after git commit. Use git reset HEAD <file> to unstage.

2.1 Create a Repository

git init

– initialize a new repository in the current directory. git init <project-name> – create and initialize a new directory. git clone <url> – clone an existing remote repository.

2.2 View File Status

git status <filename>

– status of a specific file. git status – status of all files.

2.3 Working Directory ↔ Index

git add <file1> [<file2> ...]

– add specific files to the Index. git add <dir> – add a directory (including sub‑directories). git add . – add all changes in the current directory.

2.4 Index ↔ Repository

git commit -m "message"

– commit staged changes to the Repository.

2.5 Remote Operations

git pull

– fetch and merge changes from the remote. git push <remote> <branch> – push local commits to the remote repository.

2.6 Other Useful Commands

git config --list

– display current Git configuration. git config -e [--global] – edit configuration file. git config --global user.email "[email protected]" – set global email. git config --global user.name "Your Name" – set global username.