Git Cheat Sheet for Beginners and Intermediates

Git cheat sheet saves you time when you just can't remember a specific command. It is hard to memorize all the important Git commands as a newbie, most times Senior Developers forget too. This is why you need a reference you can come back to when you get stuck.

In this article, I'd show you the basic Git commands to help you learn Git, and more advanced concepts around Git branches, remote repositories, reverting changes, and more. At the end of this article, I'd also show you some Version Control Best Practices.

Let's get started :)

Cheat Sheet Contents

Git Basics
Reverting Changes
Rewriting Git History
Git Branches
Remote Repositories
git config
git log
git dif
git reset
Version Control best practises

I believe you already know git and you probably should be using it, but in case you don't know:

Git is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency. Git manages your source code history and versions. More details here

Cheat Sheet

command	usage
git init	Creates an empty Git repository in the specified directory.
git clone	Clones a repository located at onto your local machine.
git add	Stages only the specified changes for the next commit. Replace with a to change a specific file.
git add .	Stages new files and modifications without deletions
git add -A	Stages all changes
git add -all	Equivalent to git add -A
git add -u	Stages modifications and deletions without adding new files
git add --update	Equivalent to git add -u
git commit -m ””	Commits the staged snapshot. replace with the commit message.
git status	List which files are staged unstaged and untracked.
git log	Displays the entire commit history using the default format.
git diff	Shows unstaged changes between your index and working directory.
git pull	Fetchs the remote copy of the current branch.
git pull --rebase	Fetchs the remote copy of current branch and rebases it into the local copy. Use git rebase instead of merge to integrate the branches.
git push origin master	Push all of your commits to master branch.
git push --all	Push all of your local branches to the specified remote.
git push --tags	Tags aren’t automatically pushed when you push a branch or use the --all flag. The --tags flag sends all of your local tags to the remote repo.
git push --force	Forces the git push even if it results in a non-fast-forward merge. Do not use the --force flag unless you’re absolutely sure you know what you’re doing.

git revert	Creates new commit that undoes all of the changes made in and then applys it to the current branch.
git reset	Removes from the staging area but leaves the working directory unchanged - This unstages a file without overwriting any changes.
git clean -n	Shows which files would be removed from working directory. Use the -f flag in place of the -n flag to execute the clean.

git commit --amend	Replaces the last commit with the staged changes and last commit combined. Use with nothing staged to edit the last commit’s message.
git rebase	Rebase the current branch onto . can be a commit ID a branch name a tag or a relative reference to HEAD.
git reflog	Show a log of changes to the local repository’s HEAD. Add --relative-date flag to show date info or --all to show all refs.

git branch	Lists all of the branches in your repo.
git branch	Creates a new branch with the name .
git checkout -b	Creates and check out a new branch named .
git checkout	Checkout an existing branch.
git merge	Merge into the current branch.

git remote add	Creates a new connecti
git log --stat	Include which files were altered and the relative number of lineson to a remote repo. After adding a remote you can use as a shortcut for in other commands.
git fetch	Fetches a specific from the repo. Leave off to fetch all remote refs.
git pull	Fetches the specified remote’s copy of current branch and immediately merge it into the local copy.
git push	Pushes the branch to along with necessary commits and objects. Creates named branch in the remote repo if it doesn’t exist.

git config --global user.name	Defines the author name to be used for all commits by the current user.
git config --global user.email	Defines the author email to be used for all commits by the current user.
git config --global alias.	Creates shortcut for a Git command. E.g. alias.p push will set git p equivalent to git push.
git config --system core.editor	Set text editor used by commands for all users on the machine. arg should be the command that launches the desired editor (e.g; vi).
git config --global --edit	Opens the global configuration file in a text editor for manual editing.

git log -	Limits the number of git rebase -i E.g. git log -5 will limit to 5 commits.
git log --oneline	Condenses each commit to a single line.
git log -p	Displays the full diff of each commit.
git log --stat	Include which files were altered and the relative number of lines that were added or deleted from each of them.
git log --author= ””	Searchs for commits by a particular author.
git log --grep=””	Searchs for commits with a commit message that matches .
git log ..	Shows commits that occur between and . Args can be a any kind of revision reference.
git log --	Only display commits that have the specified file.
git log --graph --decorate	--graph flag draws a text based graph of commits on left side of commit msgs. --decorate adds names of branches or tags of commits shown.

git diff HEAD	Shows difference between working directory and last commit.
git diff --cached	Shows difference between staged changes and last commit

git reset	Resets the staging area to match most recent commit but leaves the working directory unchanged.
git reset --hard	Resets the staging area and working directory to match most recent commit and overwrites all changes in the working directory.
git reset	Moves the current branch tip backward to resets the staging area to match but leaves the working directory unchanged.
git reset --hard	Same as previous but resets both the staging area & working directory to match. Deletes uncommitted changes and all commits after .

git rebase -i	Interactively rebase current branch onto . Launches editor to enter commands for how each commit will be transferred to the new base.

Version Control Best Practises

Commit Related Changes
Don't commit an unfinished work
Your commit message should be clear enough and describes changes you made
Add screenshots were possible to describe your changes better
Ensure you open an issue first before you work on a new feature
When pushing a new feature that was not discussed before, add a reason why you made that commit
Test your commits before you push
Use branches to work on new features
Always pull before you push
Fix merge conflicts as soon as possible

Conclusion

Git is a tricky tool to get your head around. Knowing the commands is one thing, but knowing how and when to use them is another. This cheat-sheet would come in handy whenever you forget any command. Do share with your friends also, :)

Reference

https://git-scm.com/
https://www.atlassian.com/git/

Git Cheat Sheet for Beginners and Intermediates

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Command Palette

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