Git is a tool that remembers every change in your files and can take you back at any time. It sounds like insurance against mistakes, and that is exactly what it is. Let us explain simply what Git does and why it became a given across all of IT.

What Git is and where it came from

Git is a distributed version control system. In practice that means it tracks changes in files over time: it keeps the full history of who changed what and when, and it lets you return to any older version.

It was created by Linus Torvalds in 2005, originally to develop the kernel of the Linux operating system. It is open source (free and with open code) and today it is the de facto standard. If someone writes code, they almost certainly use Git.

Terms you only need to grasp

Git has a few names that look off-putting at first. In reality they are simple:

  • Repository (repo) - the folder of your project whose history Git tracks.
  • Commit - a saved snapshot of changes with a short note about what you did. It is like saving a game with a comment.
  • Branch - a separate line of work where you can experiment without touching the main version.
  • Merge - folding a branch back into the main version once the new thing is finished.
  • Clone, pull, push - downloading a project and sending changes between your computer and a remote storage.
  • Conflict - when two people change the same spot and Git lets you decide which version wins.

What “distributed” means

With Git, everyone has the full project history stored locally, right on their own computer, not only on a server. That brings two big benefits: you can work offline (without a connection) and every copy is also a full backup. When the server goes down, the project is not lost, because it lives in every computer that has it cloned.

Local versus remote storage

Git itself runs locally on your computer. For sharing and collaboration between several people there are services that provide remote storage:

  • GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket - the best-known cloud services.
  • Gitea - a lightweight service you can run on your own server if you want your data with you.

If you like the idea of keeping your own services under control, read how self-hosting your own services works.

Why Git is useful

There are many reasons why Git won over the whole world:

  • Safe history and going back - when you break something, you return to a version that worked.
  • Collaboration without overwriting work - several people work on the same project and Git puts their changes together.
  • Safe experimenting - you try a new thing in a branch and the main version stays untouched.
  • Natural backup - every copy is the full history of the project.

Not just for programmers

Git is most often linked with code, but it fits anywhere it pays to have a history of changes. It serves great for documentation, configuration files, writing text or notes in the Markdown format. If you write anything whose older version you might need, Git is the right choice.

Git also fits well into modern development alongside tools like Docker and containers, and it is useful no matter which of the programming languages you work in.

Conclusion

Git is insurance and a collaboration tool in one. It remembers every change, lets you experiment safely and allows several people to work on one project without chaos. Learning the basics takes a few hours and pays back many times over, whether you write code or just want to keep order in your own files.

Want help setting up Git or your own storage for a team? Contact us.

This article is part of our Software and system overview.