Staging Files and Creating Commits¶

Now that you understand Git concepts, let's learn how to use Git from the command line to track changes in your projects.

The Git Workflow¶

Git follows a simple three-step workflow:

Working Directory - Where you edit your files
Staging Area - Where you prepare files for a commit
Repository - Where commits are permanently stored

Setting Up Your First Repository¶

Configure Git (One-time setup)¶

Before using Git, tell it who you are:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

Create a New Repository¶

# Create a new directory for your project
mkdir my-project
cd my-project

# Initialize a Git repository
git init

Basic Git Commands¶

Check Repository Status¶

See what files have changed:

git status

Add Files to Staging Area¶

Add specific files:

git add filename.txt

Add all changed files:

git add .

Add all files with a specific extension:

git add *.java

Create a Commit¶

git commit -m "Your commit message"

Good Commit Messages

Write clear, descriptive commit messages:

✅ "Add user login functionality"
✅ "Fix bug in password validation"
❌ "stuff"
❌ "changes"

Hands-on Practice¶

Let's practice with a real example:

Step 1: Create a Project¶

# Create and enter project directory
mkdir hello-git
cd hello-git

# Initialize Git repository
git init

Step 2: Create and Add a File¶

# Create a simple text file
echo "Hello, Git!" > hello.txt

# Check status
git status

# Add file to staging area
git add hello.txt

# Check status again
git status

Step 3: Make Your First Commit¶

git commit -m "Add hello.txt with greeting"

Step 4: Make More Changes¶

# Modify the file
echo "Learning Git is fun!" >> hello.txt

# Check what changed
git status
git diff

# Stage and commit the changes
git add hello.txt
git commit -m "Add encouraging message to hello.txt"

Viewing Your History¶

See all your commits:

git log

See a condensed view:

git log --oneline

Common Patterns¶

Adding Multiple Files¶

# Add multiple specific files
git add file1.txt file2.txt

# Add all files in a directory
git add src/

# Add all changed files
git add .

Staging Parts of Files¶

Sometimes you only want to commit some changes in a file:

git add -p filename.txt

This lets you review and select which changes to stage.

Essential Commands Summary¶

Command	Purpose
`git init`	Create a new repository
`git status`	Check repository status
`git add <file>`	Stage specific files
`git add .`	Stage all changes
`git commit -m "message"`	Create a commit
`git log`	View commit history
`git diff`	See unstaged changes

What's Next?¶

Now you know how to track changes with Git! Next, learn how to tell Git which files to ignore.

Next: Working with .gitignore →

Practice Exercises¶

Try these exercises to reinforce your learning:

Create a simple project: Make a directory with a few text files, initialize Git, and make several commits
Practice good commit messages: Make commits with clear, descriptive messages
Use git log: Explore your commit history with different options like --oneline and --graph