Git Hints

Getting started

Create a git repo in current directory

git init <repoName>

Clone a git repo from url

git clone <url> <name>

fetches code from the remote repository, without merging

git fetch origin <branch>

fetches code from remote and merges changes with local

git pull 
git pull origin <branch> 

create a new branch off the current state

git branch <branch>
git checkout -b <branch> //create a new branch and check it out

Preparing Commits

git diff to see what has changed

git diff //shows changed files that havent been staged
git diff --staged  //shows changed files that have been staged

git add

git add --all //stage all changes including modifications, deletions
git add . // (git 1.x)stage all new files + modifications
git add --ignore-removal . // (git 2.x)stage all new files + modifications
git add -update //stage modifications + deletions

git rm to remove files

git rm <file>  //removes file and stages the removal
git rm --cached <file>  //removes file from staging area without removing from disk

git mv

git mv <source> <target> //move (or rename) a file and have the modification tracked (equivalent to git rm + git add)

Committing and pushing changes

git commit

git commit -m "commit message here" //commit staged files with message
git commit -a -m "commit message here" //automatically stage files and commit with message
git commit --amend  //revise the most recent commit message that hasnt yet been pushed

git push

git push origin HEAD //push to current branch

Undoing and Reverting

git checkout to revert changes on a file

git checkout <commit> -- <file>  //pull file into working dir from amother commit 
git checkout <commit>^ -- <file>  //pull file into working dir from the previous commit (^) to the specified commit
git checkout <commit> path/to/file  //revert single file to previous commit