Basic Git commands for Open Source

Hacktoberfest is starting tomorrow!! Are you ready??

In case you’re quite new to git, I will try to explain in a simple way how to use the basic commands you absolutely need to contribute to Open Source.

Disclaimer: this tutorial is meant for beginners. I will oversimplify a little bit to make sure the concepts can be easily understood by someone who might have never used git or has little experience.

The commands are:

1. clone -> Copy a remote repository in your computer.
2. checkout -> Create a new branch.
3. add -> Put your local changes in the stage area.

• status -> Not mandatory, just to see the current state is all as expected.

4. commit -> Take a snapshot of the stage area (the file you just added).
5. push -> Upload your commit(s) to the remote repository.

Technically, you could do all these steps even without commands in terminal but with a GUI (Graphical User Interface) such as GitHub Desktop or Sourcetree, however since git is such a widespread and useful tool you’re gonna use everyday, you must know at least the basics.

If you want to see how these commands can be used in a real case, you can watch this video I just uploaded on my YouTube Channel where i talk about Open Source and Web Development!