Git Procedure for Beginners

Git Procedure for Beginners#

Before asking for help, please first search the issue on Google or ask an AI assistant. If the problem persists, then ask a colleague.

Introduction#

Git is a version control system used to manage code changes. A key concept in Git is the branch.

What is a branch?#

A branch is a copy of the code where you can work independently without affecting the main version. This allows multiple people to work in parallel.

Two types of branches:

Local: Exists only on your computer.
Remote: Shared on GitHub (or another server, but here GitHub).

You’ll often need to:

Merge updates from main into your branch
Push your own changes to main

You only need a few commands to do this.

Prerequisite: You should have Git installed on your computer.

Keeping Your Branch Up to Date#

main → my-branch

To get the latest updates from main into your branch:

Switch to your branch:
```
git checkout my-branch
```
Fetch updates from main:
```
git fetch origin main
```
Merge them into your branch:
```
git merge origin/main
```

If Git shows conflicts, open the listed files, make corrections, then run:

git add .
git commit -m "Resolve merge conflicts"

Pushing Changes from Your Branch to `main`#

my-branch → main

Once your updates are tested, you may want to move selected changes into main.

Switch to main:

# Make sure you're on your branch
git checkout main

# Save and stage your changes
git add .
git commit -m "Describe your changes"

# Push your branch to GitHub
git push origin my-branch

View your commit history:
```
git log --oneline
```

Summary of Key Commands#

Action	Command
Switch to your branch	`git checkout my-branch`
Fetch updates from `main`	`git fetch origin main`
Merge changes into your branch	`git merge origin/main`
Pull updates from `main` (fetch + merge)	`git pull origin main`
Switch to `main`	`git checkout main`
View commit history	`git log --oneline`
Push changes to `main`	`git push origin main`

Final Tips#

Use git status to see what’s going on
Use git log --oneline to see commit history
Use Google or AI tools for troubleshooting
Ask teammates only after checking the basics

You don’t need to master Git to contribute — just keep your branch up to date and make your changes visible to the team in a clean and organized way.