Core Commands
Git provides a rich set of commands that form the foundation of version control, and learning them is essential.
Git is a single command with a few hundred subcommands, but the day-to-day work comes down to about ten of them. This section covers those: the ones you reach for constantly, and the handful you need when something goes wrong.
They fall into four groups.
Getting code in and out. git init creates a repository, git add stages a
change, git commit records it, and git push sends it to a remote. That loop
is the thing you run dozens of times a day.
Reading history. git log shows commits, git diff shows changes, and
git show pulls out a single commit in full. git reflog records where HEAD
has been, which is how you recover work you thought you had lost.
Moving work around. git switch and git checkout move between branches,
git merge brings a branch back, and git rebase replays your commits on top
of another branch so the history reads as a straight line.
Undoing things. git reset moves the branch pointer, git revert records a
new commit that undoes an earlier one, and git commit --amend fixes the
commit you just made. Which one you want depends on whether the mistake has
been pushed, and the difference matters.
Start with Git Init if you have not set a repository up yet, then work through Add, Commit and Status in that order. The recovery commands are worth reading before you need them rather than after.