To explore the robust functionality of Git, we need some tools. Git comes with some of its tools like Git Bash, Git GUI to provide the interface between machine and user. It supports inbuilt as well as third-party tools.

Git comes with built-in GUI tools like git bash, git-gui, and gitk for committing and browsing. It also supports several third-party tools for users looking for platform-specific experience.

Git Package Tools

Git provides powerful functionality to explore it. We need many tools such as commands, command line, Git GUI. Let’s understand some essential package tools.

GitBash

Git Bash is an application for the Windows environment. It is used as Git command line for windows. Git Bash provides an emulation layer for a Git command-line experience. Bash is an abbreviation of Bourne Again Shell. Git package installer contains Bash, bash utilities, and Git on a Windows operating system.

Bash is a standard default shell on Linux and macOS. A shell is a terminal application which is used to create an interface with an operating system through commands.

By default, Git Windows package contains the Git Bash tool. We can access it by right-click on a folder in Windows Explorer.

Git Bash Commands

Git Bash comes with some additional commands that are stored in the /usr/bin directory of the Git Bash emulation.

Git Bash can provide a robust shell experience on Windows. Git Bash comes with some essential shell commands like Ssh, scp, cat, find.

Git Bash also includes the full set of Git core commands like git clone, git commit, git checkout, git push, and more.

Git GUI

Git GUI is a powerful alternative to Git BASH. It offers a graphical version of the Git command line function, as well as comprehensive visual diff tools. We can access it by simply right click on a folder or location in windows explorer. Also, we can access it through the command line by typing below command.

1. $ git gui

A pop-up window will open as Git gui tool. The Git GUI’s interface looks like as:

Git facilitates with some built-in GUI tools for committing (git-gui) and browsing (gitk), but there are many third-party tools for users looking for platform-specific experience.

Gitk

gitk is a graphical history viewer tool. It’s a robust GUI shell over git log and git grep. This tool is used to find something that happened in the past or visualize your project’s history.

Gitk can invoke from the command-line. Just change directory into a Git repository, and type:

1. $ gitk [git log options]

This command invokes the gitk graphical interface and displays the project history. The Gitk interface looks like this:

Gitk supports several command-line options, most of which are passed through to the underlying git log action.

Git Third-Party Tools

Many third-party tools are available in the market to enhance the functionality of Git and provide an improved user interface. These tools are available for distinct platforms like Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS.

A list of popular third party Git tools are as follows:

Tools Platforms Price License Type
Windows Mac Linux Android iOS
SourceTree Yes Yes No No No Free Proprietary
GitHub Desktop Yes Yes No No No Free MIT
TortoiseGit Yes No No No No Free GNU GPL
Git Extensions Yes Yes Yes No No Free GNU GPL
GitKraken Yes Yes Yes No No Free/$29/$49 Proprietary
SmartGit Yes Yes Yes No No $79/user/free for non-commercial use Proprietary
Tower Yes Yes No No No $79/user (30 days free trial) Proprietary
Git Up No Yes No No No Free GNU GPL
GitEye Yes Yes Yes No No Free Proprietary
gitg Yes No Yes No No Free GNUGPL
Git2Go No No No No Yes Free with in-app purchases Proprietary
GitDrive No No No No Yes Free with in-app purchases Proprietary
GitFinder No Yes No No No $24.95 Proprietary
SnailGit No Yes No No No &9.99/Lite version Proprietary
Pocket Git No No No Yes No 1.99€ Proprietary
Sublime Merge Yes Yes Yes No No $99/user, $75 annual business sub, free eval Proprietary

Git Terminology

Git is a tool that covered vast terminology and jargon, which can often be difficult for new users, or those who know Git basics but want to become Git masters. So, we need a little explanation of the terminology behind the tools. Let’s have a look at the commonly used terms.

Some commonly used terms are:

Branch

A branch is a version of the repository that diverges from the main working project. It is an essential feature available in most modern version control systems. A Git project can have more than one branch. We can perform many operations on Git branch-like rename, list, delete, etc.

Checkout

In Git, the term checkout is used for the act of switching between different versions of a target entity. The git checkout command is used to switch between branches in a repository.

Cherry-Picking

Cherry-picking in Git is meant to apply some commit from one branch into another branch. In case you made a mistake and committed a change into the wrong branch, but do not want to merge the whole branch. You can revert the commit and cherry-pick it on another branch.

Clone

The git clone is a Git command-line utility. It is used to make a copy of the target repository or clone it. If I want a local copy of my repository from GitHub, this tool allows creating a local copy of that repository on your local directory from the repository URL.

Fetch

It is used to fetch branches and tags from one or more other repositories, along with the objects necessary to complete their histories. It updates the remote-tracking branches.

HEAD

HEAD is the representation of the last commit in the current checkout branch. We can think of the head like a current branch. When you switch branches with git checkout, the HEAD revision changes, and points the new branch.

Index

The Git index is a staging area between the working directory and repository. It is used as the index to build up a set of changes that you want to commit together.

Master

Master is a naming convention for Git branch. It’s a default branch of Git. After cloning a project from a remote server, the resulting local repository contains only a single local branch. This branch is called a “master” branch. It means that “master” is a repository’s “default” branch.

Merge

Merging is a process to put a forked history back together. The git merge command facilitates you to take the data created by git branch and integrate them into a single branch.

Origin

In Git, “origin” is a reference to the remote repository from a project was initially cloned. More precisely, it is used instead of that original repository URL to make referencing much easier.

Pull/Pull Request

The term Pull is used to receive data from GitHub. It fetches and merges changes on the remote server to your working directory. The git pull command is used to make a Git pull.

Pull requests are a process for a developer to notify team members that they have completed a feature. Once their feature branch is ready, the developer files a pull request via their remote server account. Pull request announces all the team members that they need to review the code and merge it into the master branch.

Push

The push term refers to upload local repository content to a remote repository. Pushing is an act of transfer commits from your local repository to a remote repository. Pushing is capable of overwriting changes; caution should be taken when pushing.

Rebase

In Git, the term rebase is referred to as the process of moving or combining a sequence of commits to a new base commit. Rebasing is very beneficial and visualized the process in the environment of a feature branching workflow.

From a content perception, rebasing is a technique of changing the base of your branch from one commit to another.

Remote

In Git, the term remote is concerned with the remote repository. It is a shared repository that all team members use to exchange their changes. A remote repository is stored on a code hosting service like an internal server, GitHub, Subversion and more.

In case of a local repository, a remote typically does not provide a file tree of the project’s current state, as an alternative it only consists of the .git versioning data.

Repository

In Git, Repository is like a data structure used by VCS to store metadata for a set of files and directories. It contains the collection of the file as well as the history of changes made to those files. Repositories in Git is considered as your project folder. A repository has all the project-related data. Distinct projects have distinct repositories.

Stashing

Sometimes you want to switch the branches, but you are working on an incomplete part of your current project. You don’t want to make a commit of half-done work. Git stashing allows you to do so. The git stash command enables you to switch branch without committing the current branch.

Tag

Tags make a point as a specific point in Git history. It is used to mark a commit stage as important. We can tag a commit for future reference. Primarily, it is used to mark a projects initial point like v1.1. There are two types of tags.

1. Light-weighted tag
2. Annotated tag

Upstream and Downstream

The term upstream and downstream is a reference of the repository. Generally, upstream is where you cloned the repository from (the origin) and downstream is any project that integrates your work with other works. However, these terms are not restricted to Git repositories.

Git Revert

In Git, the term revert is used to revert some commit. To revert a commit, git revert command is used. It is an undo type command. However, it is not a traditional undo alternative.

Git Reset

In Git, the term reset stands for undoing changes. The git reset command is used to reset the changes. The git reset command has three core forms of invocation. These forms are as follows.

• Soft
• Mixed
• Hard

Git Ignore

In Git, the term ignore used to specify intentionally untracked files that Git should ignore. It doesn’t affect the Files that already tracked by Git.

Git Diff

Git diff is a command-line utility. It’s a multiuse Git command. When it is executed, it runs a diff function on Git data sources. These data sources can be files, branches, commits, and more. It is used to show changes between commits, commit, and working tree, etc.

Git Cheat Sheet

A Git cheat sheet is a summary of Git quick references. It contains basic Git commands with quick installation. A cheat sheet or crib sheet is a brief set of notes used for quick reference. Cheat sheets are so named because the people may use it without no prior knowledge.

Git Flow

GitFlow is a branching model for Git, developed by Vincent Driessen. It is very well organized to collaborate and scale the development team. Git flow is a collection of Git commands. It accomplishes many repository operations with just single commands.

Git Squash

In Git, the term squash is used to squash previous commits into one. Git squash is an excellent technique to group-specific changes before forwarding them to others. You can merge several commits into a single commit with the powerful interactive rebase command.

Git Rm

In Git, the term rm stands for remove. It is used to remove individual files or a collection of files. The key function of git rm is to remove tracked files from the Git index. Additionally, it can be used to remove files from both the working directory and staging index.

Git Fork

A fork is a rough copy of a repository. Forking a repository allows you to freely test and debug with changes without affecting the original project.

Great use of using forks to propose changes for bug fixes. To resolve an issue for a bug that you found, you can:

• Fork the repository.
• Make the fix.
• Forward a pull request to the project owner.

So, this brings us to the end of blog. This Tecklearn ‘Git Terminology and General Tools’ blog helps you with commonly asked questions if you are looking out for a job in DevOps. If you wish to learn Git and GitHub and build a career in DevOps domain, then check out our interactive, Version control with Git and GitHub Training, that comes with 24*7 support to guide you throughout your learning period. Please find the link for course details:

Version Control with Git and GitHub

Version Control with Git and GitHub Training

About the Course

Tecklearn has specially designed this Git and GitHub Training Course to advance your skills for a successful career in this domain. The course will cover different components of Git and GitHub and how they are used in software development operations. The course consists of important concepts like: branching & merging, how to deal with conflicts, rebasing, merge strategies, Git workflows and so on. You will get an in-depth knowledge of these concepts and will be able to work on related demos. Upon completion of this online training, you will hold a solid understanding and hands-on experience with Git.

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What you will Learn in this Course?

Introduction to DevOps

• What is Software Development
• Software Development Life Cycle
• Why DevOps?
• What is DevOps?
• DevOps Lifecycle
• DevOps Tools
• Benefits of DevOps
• How DevOps is related to Agile Delivery
• DevOps Implementation

Git and GitHub

• What is version control
• Version Control System (VCS) Products
• Types of VCS
• What is Git
• Why Git for your organization
• Install Git
• Common commands in Git
• Working with Remote Repositories
• GitHub
• Git Installation
• Git Lifecycle
• GitHub (Push, Pull Request)
• GitHub Workflow

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