Master Git vs SVN: Core Concepts, Commands, and Git‑SVN Integration

Git vs SVN

Git is a distributed version‑control system; SVN is centralized. Git supports offline work, cheap branching, and a richer command set, while SVN requires network access and creates branches by copying directories.

Core Git concepts

The three main areas are:

Workspace : the working directory on your computer.

Index (staging area) : a temporary cache for changes before committing.

Repository : stores the history, both locally and remotely.

Understanding the index and the local repository is the biggest hurdle for SVN users.

Typical commit workflow

git add

– move changes from workspace to index. git commit – record index changes into the local repository. git push or git svn dcommit – send local commits to the remote repository.

Git‑SVN common commands

# Clone an SVN project with full history into a Git repo
git svn clone -s [repository]

# Show repository info
git svn info

# Fetch all remote branches
git svn fetch

# Rebase local changes onto remote
git svn rebase

# Commit local changes back to SVN
git svn dcommit

# Create a local branch that tracks a remote SVN branch
git checkout -b [local_branch] [remote_branch]

Repository initialization

# Initialize a new Git repository in the current directory
git init

# Clone a remote Git project
git clone [url]

Configuration

# List all config values
git config -l

# Set useful aliases
git config --global alias.co checkout
git config --global alias.ci commit
git config --global alias.st status
git config --global alias.br branch

# Set user information
git config --global user.name "[name]"
git config --global user.email "[email address]"

Global config is stored in ~/.gitconfig; repository‑specific config resides in .git/config.

Adding and removing files

# Add all files
git add .

# Add specific files
git add <file1> <file2>

# Remove files and stage the deletion
git rm <file1> <file2>

# Stop tracking a file but keep it in the workspace
git rm --cached <file>

# Rename a file
git mv <old> <new>

Branch management

# List local branches
git branch

# List all branches (local + remote)
git branch -a

# Create a new branch
git branch <branch-name>

# Create and switch to a new branch
git checkout -b <new_branch> <remote-branch>

# Switch to an existing branch
git checkout <branch-name>

# Merge a branch into the current one
git merge <branch>

# Cherry‑pick a specific commit
git cherry-pick <commit>

# Delete a local branch
git branch -d <branch-name>

# Delete a remote branch
git push <remote> :<remote-branch>

Committing

# Commit with a message
git commit -m "[message]"

# Commit all changes (skip staging)
git commit -a

# Show diff in the commit output
git commit -v

# Amend the previous commit
git commit --amend -m "[new message]"

# Push a branch to remote
git push <remote> <remote-branch>

Fetching and pulling

# Fetch all changes from remote (Git only)
git fetch <remote>

# Show remote URLs
git remote -v

# Pull and merge
git pull <remote> <branch>

# Pull with rebase
git pull --rebase <remote> <branch>

Undoing changes

# Restore a file from index
git checkout <file>

# Restore all files in the current directory
git checkout .

# Reset index to match a commit (keep workspace)
git reset <file>

# Hard reset index and workspace
git reset --hard

# Revert a commit
git revert <commit>

# Stash uncommitted changes
git stash

# Apply stashed changes
git stash pop

Querying the repository

# Show status of working tree
git status

# Show diff of a file
git diff <file>

# Show staged diff
git diff --cached <file>

# Show commit log
git log

# Filter log by author
git log --author=someone

# Show changes for a specific file
git log -p <file>

# Show details of a commit
git show <commit>

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