𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Git is the backbone of modern development workflows. Whether you're working on a solo side project or collaborating with a large team, mastering Git commands is essential. In this post, we’ll go over 10 fundamental Git commands that every developer should know to manage code efficiently and confidently.

🔧 𝟭. 𝗴𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁

Initializes a new Git repository in your project folder.

𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚒̲𝚗̲𝚒̲𝚝̲

This creates a .git directory and enables version tracking for your files.

🔄 𝟮. 𝗴𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲

Clones an existing Git repository (usually from GitHub) to your local machine.

𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚌̲𝚕̲𝚘̲𝚗̲𝚎̲ ̲𝚑̲𝚝̲𝚝̲𝚙̲𝚜̲:̲/̲/̲𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚝̲𝚑̲𝚞̲𝚋̲.̲𝚌̲𝚘̲𝚖̲/̲𝚞̲𝚜̲𝚎̲𝚛̲𝚗̲𝚊̲𝚖̲𝚎̲/̲𝚛̲𝚎̲𝚙̲𝚘̲–̲𝚗̲𝚊̲𝚖̲𝚎̲.̲𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚝̲

You get a full copy of the repo including history and branches.

💾 𝟯. 𝗴𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝗱

Stages changes in your working directory for the next commit.

𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚊̲𝚍̲𝚍̲ ̲.̲

or

git add filename.js

Use . to add all changes, or specify individual files.

✅ 𝟰. 𝗴𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁

Saves your staged changes to the local repository with a message.

𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚌̲𝚘̲𝚖̲𝚖̲𝚒̲𝚝̲ ̲–̲𝚖̲ ̲"̲𝙰̲𝚍̲𝚍̲ ̲𝚕̲𝚘̲𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚗̲ ̲𝚌̲𝚘̲𝚖̲𝚙̲𝚘̲𝚗̲𝚎̲𝚗̲𝚝̲"̲

Each commit is like a snapshot of your project at a moment in time.

🚀 𝟱. 𝗴𝗶𝘁 𝗽𝘂𝘀𝗵

Uploads your local commits to a remote repository like GitHub.

𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚙̲𝚞̲𝚜̲𝚑̲ ̲𝚘̲𝚛̲𝚒̲𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚗̲ ̲𝚖̲𝚊̲𝚒̲𝚗̲

Make sure you're pushing to the correct branch (main, master, or others).

⬇️ 𝟲. 𝗴𝗶𝘁 𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗹

Fetches changes from the remote repo and merges them into your local branch.

𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚙̲𝚞̲𝚕̲𝚕̲ ̲𝚘̲𝚛̲𝚒̲𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚗̲ ̲𝚖̲𝚊̲𝚒̲𝚗̲

Useful for syncing changes made by others before you start new work.

🔍 𝟳. 𝗴𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀

Shows the current state of your working directory and staging area.

𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚜̲𝚝̲𝚊̲𝚝̲𝚞̲𝚜̲

Tells you which files are modified, staged, or untracked.

🔄 𝟴. 𝗴𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗼𝘂𝘁

Switches to a different branch or restores files.

𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚌̲𝚑̲𝚎̲𝚌̲𝚔̲𝚘̲𝚞̲𝚝̲ ̲–̲𝚋̲ ̲𝚗̲𝚎̲𝚠̲–̲𝚏̲𝚎̲𝚊̲𝚝̲𝚞̲𝚛̲𝚎̲

Use -b to create a new branch and switch to it at once.

🧹 𝟵. 𝗴𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗵

Lists branches or creates new ones.

𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚋̲𝚛̲𝚊̲𝚗̲𝚌̲𝚑̲

or

𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚋̲𝚛̲𝚊̲𝚗̲𝚌̲𝚑̲ ̲𝚗̲𝚎̲𝚠̲–̲𝚏̲𝚎̲𝚊̲𝚝̲𝚞̲𝚛̲𝚎̲

Keep your main branch clean by developing in separate branches.

⏪ 𝟭𝟬. 𝗴𝗶𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗴

Displays commit history.

𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚕̲𝚘̲𝚐̲ ̲–̲–̲𝚘̲𝚗̲𝚎̲𝚕̲𝚒̲𝚗̲𝚎̲

See who made which changes and when — great for debugging and collaboration.

🚧 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁:

𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚛̲𝚎̲𝚜̲𝚎̲𝚝̲ ̲–̲–̲𝚜̲𝚘̲𝚏̲𝚝̲ ̲𝙷̲𝙴̲𝙰̲𝙳̲~̲𝟷̲

Discard all local changes:

𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚛̲𝚎̲𝚜̲𝚎̲𝚝̲ ̲–̲–̲𝚑̲𝚊̲𝚛̲𝚍̲

𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲:

𝚐̲𝚒̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚛̲𝚎̲𝚜̲𝚎̲𝚝̲ ̲𝙷̲𝙴̲𝙰̲𝙳̲ ̲𝚏̲𝚒̲𝚕̲𝚎̲𝚗̲𝚊̲𝚖̲𝚎̲

🏁 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 These Git commands form the foundation of version control. Whether you're a junior developer or working in DevOps, mastering these will improve your confidence and collaboration in any codebase. Bookmark this post or share it with a teammate who’s just getting started!