Pro Git
by Scott Chacon, Ben Straub · first published 2009
92% recommend7% neutral1% critical
Why HN recommends it
Free, well-illustrated guide that explains each Git command with a use case and diagrams, then goes into internals like objects, references and packfiles. Suits anyone moving from daily use to a real mental model of Git.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Pro Git is your fully-updated guide to Git and its usage in the modern world. Git has come a long way since it was first developed by Linus Torvalds for Linux kernel development. It has taken the open source world by storm since its inception in 2005, and this book teaches you how to use it like a pro. Effective and well-implemented version control is a necessity for successful web projects, whether large or small. With this book you’ll learn how to master the world of distributed version workflow, use the distributed features of Git to the full, and extend Git to meet your every need.
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If you're concerned about not knowing how to do certain things with git, and understanding at a deeper level how git works, I highly recommend reading Scott Chacon's "Pro Git" book: https://progit.org/
on “Some bad Git situations and how I got myself out of them” ↗…JavaScript book, perhaps something like JavaScript: The good parts (http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596517748). After learning as much of those as you can, familarize yourself with Git by reading the Pro Git book by Scott Chacon (http://progit.org/), or if you choose another version control piece of software (Mercurial, Bazaar are good, SVN isn't and CVS is (I'm pretty sure) the work of demons). Ah and before…
on “Ask HN: I want to learn how to code. Can anyone tell me how to start learning?” ↗I recommend Scott Chacon's Pro Git instead. It's available for free online: http://progit.org. Having just read the Git Community Book and Pro Git last week, I can say the latter is far better.
on “Git Community Book” ↗No, but there's a book called "Pro Git" by Scott Chacon and Ben Straub that popped up on HN not too long ago. It does explain git on the lower level without going into the git source code. This book is over 500 pages, but chapters 1 to 3…
on “Gitless: a version control system” ↗…experience. (Doing so again with Go here for the curious: http://golang.tumblr.com) There's already great resources on learning git comprehensively from Scott Chacon, namely the Git community book and now Pro Git. I think over time gitready has evolved into a 'recipes' site, and I like it that way. I have X problem with Git, how can I solve it? That being said, I really want to redesign the site and reevaluate…
on “Learn git one commit at a time” ↗I've had the opposite experience. I've generally found git a joy to use and I don't miss SVN in the slightest. I highly recommend reading Chacon's Pro Git book. As really understanding how Git works internally helps in using it a lot.
on “Advanced Git tips (slides)” ↗Code Compete 2 Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art Pro GIT Debugging by Agans
on “Ask HN: Books for soon to be Software Engineers” ↗…money. Whereas in the real world people judge their materials in the context of specific authors, subjects, goals, and budgets. People compare (e.g.) a copy of established-Github-wizard Scott Chacon's Pro Git (a try-before-you-buy CC-licensed free book) to the thrill of trying to learn Git's canonical workflow by reading its man pages and browsing flamewars about rebase v. merge. Or a ten-minute Railscast…
…learn Git with a GUI and all these aliased commands. I'm not against aliases and I use them, but only on software that I'm very familiar with. Developers who are afraid of Git need to sit down and read Pro Git and learn the most commonly used commands, and use a quality reference for the more obscure ones.
on “Lazygit: A simple terminal UI for Git commands” ↗…rebase/reset, and write some publish worthy commits, but once they all understood the value it adds, they all became converts and did the evangelism job for me the next time we hired a dev. I recommend reading Pro Git by Scott Chacon. Git is pretty dang amazing.
on “A Better Git Flow” ↗…steps and resources I'd recommend: Learn Version Control: Familiarize yourself with Git, as version control is a crucial skill in DevOps. You can start with online tutorials and documentation like the "Pro Git" book by Scott Chacon and Ben Straub. Master the Command Line: DevOps heavily relies on command-line tools for automation and management. Practice using the terminal extensively and learn essential commands…
on “Ask HN: How do I transition to DevOps after 10 years of front end?” ↗I love this book. It's what helped me move from an intermediate Git user to an advanced one, and I've subsequently trained a bunch of people at different organizations by going through it. However, Pro Git is not an ideal resource for newbies unless they are highly motivated or receiving generous training. A simple graphical representation of your own repo goes a long way towards establishing a mental…
on “I struggled with Git, so I'm making a game to spare others the pain” ↗…Raymond H. Myers, Sharon L. Myers, and Keying E. Ye Optimization: "Convex Optimization" by Stephen Boyd and Lieven Vandenberghe Programming: Python: "Python Crash Course" by Eric Matthes Git: "Pro Git" by Scott Chacon and Ben Straub Machine Learning & Data Science Basics: "Introduction to Data Science" by Laura Igual and Santi Seguí "Python Data Science Handbook" by Jake VanderPlas Stage 2: Learning…
on “Ask HN: I am a full stack developer, where do I start learning for AI” ↗So many people have a hard time with git. I have yet to meet someone who understands git and uses it proficiently. What I tell every new programmer joining my team is to read chapter 10 (Git Internals) section 10.2 and 10.3 of the amazing online git book[0][1][2]. I can not insist enough on how important it is to understand the fundamental design of git, and it is really not complicated. This i
on “Key Git Concepts Explained the Hard Way” ↗I think it's very possible that these pretty wrappers allow people to hobble along with little to no understanding of how git actually works. If that's the only way that you'll use version control, it's better than nothing. On the other hand, I heartily endorse actually learning how the git model works -- it's not too bad, I promise! . Good places to start: [1] Peepcode's "Git Internals" PDF
on “Gitbox - Everyday git [Mac OS X] interface for human beings” ↗