What is Git and How to install it on windows and Linux

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Git is a version control system that allows developers to keep track of changes made to their code over time. It allows multiple people to collaborate on a project, and facilitates the process of merging contributions from different developers.

Here are some benefits of using Git:

  1. Tracking Changes: Git keeps a history of all the changes made to the codebase, so it's easy to see who made a change, when it was made, and what the change was. This makes it easy to revert to a previous version of the code if needed.

  2. Collaboration: Git makes it easy for multiple people to work on a project simultaneously. Developers can create their own branches to work on, and then merge their changes with the main branch when they're ready.

  3. Branching and Merging: Git allows developers to create multiple branches for different features or bug fixes, and then merge them back into the main branch when they're finished. This makes it easy to work on multiple features at the same time without affecting the main codebase.

  4. Open-Source Development: Git is widely used in open-source development, so it's easy to contribute to open-source projects and collaborate with other developers around the world.

  5. Backup: Git allows you to store your code on remote servers like GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket, so you can always access it from anywhere and also it serves as a backup of your codebase.

Setup on Windows

To set up Git on Windows, you can follow these steps:

  1. Download the latest version of Git for Windows from the official website: git-scm.com/download/win

  2. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the installation.

  3. Open the Git Bash terminal by clicking on the Git Bash icon in the Start menu or on the desktop.

  4. Configure your name and email address, which will be associated with your commits, by running the following commands in the terminal:

$ git config --global user.name "Your Name"
$ git config --global user.email "your_email@example.com"
  1. You can also configure a default text editor, such as nano or vim, by running the following command:
$ git config --global core.editor "editor_of_your_choice"
  1. Now you can start using Git for version control on your Windows machine. You can create a new repository, clone an existing one, or work with remote repositories using Git commands.

Installation on Linux Distros

To install Git on a Linux machine, you can use the package manager that comes with your distribution. Here are the commands for some popular Linux distributions:

  1. Ubuntu/Debian: Run the following command in the terminal to install Git:
$ sudo apt-get install git
  1. Fedora: Run the following command in the terminal to install Git:
$ sudo dnf install git
  1. CentOS: Run the following command in the terminal to install Git:
$ sudo yum install git
  1. Arch Linux: Run the following command in the terminal to install Git:
$ sudo pacman -S git
  1. openSUSE: Run the following command in the terminal to install Git:
$ sudo zypper install git

After the installation is complete, you can configure your name and email address, which will be associated with your commits, by running the following commands in the terminal:

$ git config --global user.name "Your Name"
$ git config --global user.email "your_email@example.com"

You can also configure a default text editor, such as nano or vim, by running the following command:

$ git config --global core.editor "editor_of_your_choice"

Now you can start using Git for version control on your Linux machine. You can create a new repository, clone an existing one, or work with remote repositories using Git commands.

Hope you find this article helpful. If yes , please leave your comments.

Thanks

Charanjeet Singh