5775cd28acfb391e585e6ec401ae2e21170ff46a
   1Everyday GIT With 20 Commands Or So
   2===================================
   3
   4GIT suite has over 100 commands, and the manual page for each of
   5them discusses what the command does and how it is used in
   6detail, but until you know what command should be used in order
   7to achieve what you want to do, you cannot tell which manual
   8page to look at, and if you know that already you do not need
   9the manual.
  10
  11Does that mean you need to know all of them before you can use
  12git?  Not at all.  Depending on the role you play, the set of
  13commands you need to know is slightly different, but in any case
  14what you need to learn is far smaller than the full set of
  15commands to carry out your day-to-day work.  This document is to
  16serve as a cheat-sheet and a set of pointers for people playing
  17various roles.
  18
  19<<Basic Repository>> commands are needed by people who has a
  20repository --- that is everybody, because every working tree of
  21git is a repository.
  22
  23In addition, <<Individual Developer (Standalone)>> commands are
  24essential for anybody who makes a commit, even for somebody who
  25works alone.
  26
  27If you work with other people, you will need commands listed in
  28<<Individual Developer (Participant)>> section as well.
  29
  30People who play <<Integrator>> role need to learn some more
  31commands in addition to the above.
  32
  33<<Repository Administration>> commands are for system
  34administrators who are responsible to care and feed git
  35repositories to support developers.
  36
  37
  38Basic Repository[[Basic Repository]]
  39------------------------------------
  40
  41Everybody uses these commands to feed and care git repositories.
  42
  43  * gitlink:git-init-db[1] or gitlink:git-clone[1] to create a
  44    new repository.
  45
  46  * gitlink:git-fsck-objects[1] to validate the repository.
  47
  48  * gitlink:git-prune[1] to garbage collect crufts in the
  49    repository.
  50
  51  * gitlink:git-repack[1] to pack loose objects for efficiency.
  52
  53Individual Developer (Standalone)[[Individual Developer (Standalone)]]
  54----------------------------------------------------------------------
  55
  56A standalone individual developer does not exchange patches with
  57other poeple, and works alone in a single repository, using the
  58following commands.
  59
  60  * gitlink:git-show-branch[1] to see where you are.
  61
  62  * gitlink:git-diff[1] and gitlink:git-status[1] to see what
  63    you are in the middle of doing.
  64
  65  * gitlink:git-log[1] to see what happened.
  66
  67  * gitlink:git-whatchanged[1] to find out where things have
  68    come from.
  69
  70  * gitlink:git-checkout[1] and gitlink:git-branch[1] to switch
  71    branches.
  72
  73  * gitlink:git-update-index[1] to manage the index file.
  74
  75  * gitlink:git-commit[1] to advance the current branch.
  76
  77  * gitlink:git-reset[1] and gitlink:git-checkout[1] (with
  78    pathname parameters) to undo changes.
  79
  80  * gitlink:git-pull[1] with "." as the remote to merge between
  81    local branches.
  82
  83  * gitlink:git-rebase[1] to maintain topic branches.
  84
  85
  86Individual Developer (Participant)[[Individual Developer (Participant)]]
  87------------------------------------------------------------------------
  88
  89A developer working as a participant in a group project needs to
  90learn how to communicate with others, and uses these commands in
  91addition to the ones needed by a standalone developer.
  92
  93  * gitlink:git-pull[1] from "origin" to keep up-to-date with
  94    the upstream.
  95
  96  * gitlink:git-push[1] to shared repository if you adopt CVS
  97    style shared repository workflow.
  98
  99  * gitlink:git-format-patch[1] to prepare e-mail submission, if
 100    you adopt Linux kernel-style public forum workflow.
 101
 102
 103Integrator[[Integrator]]
 104------------------------
 105
 106A fairly central person acting as the integrator in a group
 107project receives changes made by others, reviews and integrates
 108them and publishes the result for others to use, using these
 109commands in addition to the ones needed by participants.
 110
 111  * gitlink:git-am[1] to apply patches e-mailed in from your
 112    contributors.
 113
 114  * gitlink:git-pull[1] to merge from your trusted lieutenants.
 115
 116  * gitlink:git-format-patch[1] to prepare and send suggested
 117    alternative to contributors.
 118
 119  * gitlink:git-revert[1] to undo botched commits.
 120
 121  * gitlink:git-push[1] to publish the bleeding edge.
 122
 123
 124Repository Administration[[Repository Administration]]
 125------------------------------------------------------
 126
 127A repository administrator uses the following tools to set up
 128and maintain access to the repository by developers.
 129
 130  * gitlink:git-daemon[1] to allow anonymous download from
 131    repository.
 132
 133  * gitlink:git-shell[1] can be used as a 'restricted login shell'
 134    for shared central repository users.
 135
 136  * link:howto/update-hook-example.txt[update hook howto] has a
 137    good example of managing a shared central repository.
 138