Git In My Bellauh

Note: This is woefully incomplete. I’ll be adding more over time.

Table of Contents

• Commands
  • checkout
  • switch
  • restore
• Git Files
  • .gitignore

Commands

Some common git commands I use frequently.

checkout

The checkout command is mostly used for switching branches (more on that below).

The two commands I use frequently are:

# switch to an existing branch
git checkout branch-name

# create a new branch and switch to it
git checkout -b new-branch

The above is probably the most common use of checkout.

switch

The practical difference between git switch and git checkout comes down to:

files vs branches

For example:

1. I make some changes to turbo_ml.py
2. The changes are now unstaged.
3. I don’t like them, and want to reset the file and start over.

I can run the following to reset the file to the last commit:

git checkout -- turbo_ml.py

Bonus for vimmers:

You can run :!git checkout -- % right from the editor.

The “gotcha” is that:

Given there is a git branch called turbo_ml.py.

When I omit the -- from the checkout command.

Then git will checkout the turbo_ml.py branch instead of resetting the file.

Granted, it’s pretty unlikely that you will have a git branched called “turbo_ml.py” but stranger things have happened.

Consequently, this is why the git switch (and git restore, see below) command was introduced in Git’s 2019 v2.23.0 release.

• The switch command can checkout a branch
• The switch command can’t revert/reset a file.
• It’s less flexible, but that’s the point - less room for error.

restore

I wanted to include git restore after explaining checkout vs switch.

Remember how you can discard local unstaged changes using the checkout command? That’s what restore does.

# using checkout
git checkout -- turbo_ml.py

# using restore
git restore turbo_ml.py

Because the restore command has no capability to checkout a branch, there is no need to include the -- safeguard that the checkout command requires.

There is another reason to use the restore command:

• If you have staged a file, you can unstage it without discarding your local changes.

# no longer staged for commit + local changes are still there
git restore --staged turbo_ml.py

Bonus for vimmers:

You can run :!git restore --staged % right from the editor.

Git Files

There are a couple of files that Git uses for settings and other stuff.

.gitignore

The .gitignore file is widely used and you’ve probably come across it if you have done any programming.

I like to use this repo for getting templates for specific repositories or projects.

What’s not commonly discussed that I find to be useful is that you can have a global .gitignore in the ~/.config/git/ignore file (note the lack of extension).

The global ignore file is great for common editor, OS, library, etc settings.

Example Global ignore file:

#######
# vim #
#######

# swap
[._]*.s[a-v][a-z]
!*.svg  # comment out if you don't need vector files
[._]*.sw[a-p]
[._]s[a-rt-v][a-z]
[._]ss[a-gi-z]
[._]sw[a-p]

# session
Session.vim
Sessionx.vim

# temporary
.netrwhist
*~

# auto-generated tag files
tags

# persistent undo
[._]*.un~

###########
# vs code #
###########
.vscode/*
!.vscode/settings.json
!.vscode/tasks.json
!.vscode/launch.json
!.vscode/extensions.json
!.vscode/*.code-snippets

## Local History for Visual Studio Code
.history/

## Built Visual Studio Code Extensions
*.vsix

#############
# JetBrains #
#############

# This folder, every time
.idea/

# CMake
cmake-build-*/

# File-based project format
*.iws

# Another IntelliJ thing
out/

# mpeltonen/sbt-idea plugin
.idea_modules/

# JIRA plugin
atlassian-ide-plugin.xml

# Crashlytics plugin (for Android Studio and IntelliJ)
com_crashlytics_export_strings.xml
crashlytics.properties
crashlytics-build.properties
fabric.properties

#########
# MacOS #
#########

# General
.DS_Store
.AppleDouble
.LSOverride

# Icon must end with two \r
Icon

# Thumbnails
._*

# Files that might appear in the root of a volume
.DocumentRevisions-V100
.fseventsd
.Spotlight-V100
.TemporaryItems
.Trashes
.VolumeIcon.icns
.com.apple.timemachine.donotpresent

# Directories potentially created on remote AFP share
.AppleDB
.AppleDesktop
Network Trash Folder
Temporary Items
.apdisk

##########
# NodeJs #
##########
node_modules
package-lock.json
bower_components

• git