Mastering the Basics of Git: A Step-by-Step Guide

If you have ever saved files as final, final2 and final-really, you already know why version control exists. Git is the tool almost every team uses for it - for code, scripts and configuration files. This course gives you a calm, step-by-step start with Git.

How the course works

Short lectures explain one idea and then show it in a terminal, so you can type the same commands on your own machine. A 40-question practice test at the end checks that the basics have stuck.

Inside the course

• Version control fundamentals: what version control is, how it evolved, and why Git works the way it does.
• Getting started with Git: installation, configuration and the core concepts - working tree, staging area and repository.
• Repository management and core commands: creating repositories, staging and committing changes, and reading the project history.

A practical example

A typical first use: you keep your admin scripts in a folder. Put the folder under Git, commit after each change, and you can always see what changed, when and why - and go back if a change breaks something.

The course runs about 2 hours in 21 lectures. No Git or programming experience is needed; it works on Windows, macOS and Linux.