AGENDA

• What is Git?
• History and motivation
• Key concepts: repo, commit, branch, remote
• First Git commands
• Working with remotes (GitHub/GitLab)
• Mini exercises

What is Git?

• A distributed version control system (VCS)
• Tracks changes in files (mostly source code)
• Allows collaboration, history, and backups
• Invented by Linus Torvalds in 2005 for Linux kernel
• The name? British slang for "unpleasant person" – Linus being ironic

Why Git?

• No more "final_v2_neu.cpp"
• History of every change
• Work in parallel on different features
• Collaboration across teams
• Safe backups

Git Concepts

• Repository (repo): project folder + .git directory
• Commit: snapshot of changes
• Branch: parallel line of development
• Remote: server version (GitHub, GitLab)
• Clone: copy remote repo locally

Prerequisites

git config --global user.name "Charlie Smith"
git config --global user.email "charlie.smith@powerplant.com"

Create a New Repo

Make sure to have a new empty folder (directory).

git init
git status
echo "Hello Git" > README.md
git add README.md
git commit -m "Initial commit"

Tracking Changes

git status         # show modified files
git diff           # show changes
git add file.cpp   # stage changes
git commit -m "Describe your change"

Working with Remotes

• Connect local repo to a server (GitHub/GitLab)

git remote add origin <url>
git push -u origin main
git pull origin main
git clone <url>

.gitignore

• Tell Git which files NOT to track Example .gitignore:

*.o
*.log
build/

Viewing History

git log
git log --oneline --graph

Mini-Exercises

Exercise 1

1. Create a new folder and initialize a Git repo
2. Add a file hello.txt and commit it
3. Edit hello.txt and commit the change
4. Inspect history with git log

Exercise 2

1. Clone an existing repository from Github

git clone https://github.com/breiting/dtle-2025

Exercise 3 (requires a Github account)

1. Create a new repo on GitHub
2. Link your local repo with remote (git remote add origin ...)
3. Push your commits to GitHub
4. Clone the repo into a new directory to verify

Survival Package (Git Basics)

• git init
• git status
• git add
• git commit -m
• git log
• git diff
• git remote add origin
• git push
• git pull
• git clone
• Don't forget to add a .gitignore file

Wrap-Up

• Learned what Git is and why it matters
• Created first local repo
• Connected to a remote repo
• Practiced committing and pushing

Resources

Teiniker Github

Next Session

• Advanced Git: branching, merging, conflicts
• Stash and blame