Distributed Version Control

Git-based Programming Assignments

Installation

Using a Debian-based Linux distribution, type

sudo apt install git git-gui git-cola

to install git and two different GUI front-ends. If you're on Windows, download git from git-scm.com (a portable edition is available).

Selected Commands

Command	Explanation
`init`	create an empty Git repository or reinitialize an existing one
`status`	Show the working tree status
`add`	Add file contents to the index
`commit`	Record changes to the repository
`push`	Update remote refs along with associated objects
`diff`	Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc
`log`	Show commit logs
`pull`	Fetch from and integrate with another repository or a local branch
`clone`	Clone a repository into a new directory

Git Cheat Sheet

A great overview of the structure of git workflows and their associated commands is available as cheat sheet.

Generate and Upload SSH-key

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 # omitting the type would generate an RSA key

When being prompted for the filename, leave the default value. Navigate to ~/.ssh/ (on Linux) resp. /cygdrive/c/Users/[USERNAME]/.ssh (on Windows). Print the key to standard output via

cat id_ed25519.pub

Copy the key and paste it in your GitHub (Settings → SSH and GPG keys → New SSH key) or GitLab (Preferences → SSH Keys) profile.

Git Hosting Platforms

Branching Models

Which branching models is to be preferred depends on the needs of an organization or of a development team. I generally recommend to keep things simple. Here are some of the most prevalent models: