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Learn the workings of Git, not just the commands (2015)

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Re: Learn the workings of Git, not just the commands (2015)

#2
In my experience it is fine to first learn only some required commands. One will run into cases, where ones understanding or imagination of how git works will not work any longer. In such cases one can still read up on how it works and build a new working understanding. Only important to not always just shrug, delete the repo and clone again. That will not really facilitate learning.

Of course no one is stopping anyone interested in it from reading more about how it works up front.

Re: Learn the workings of Git, not just the commands (2015)

#3
It's been over a decade and I still find this joke amusing:

> @wilshipley git gets easier once you get the basic idea that branches are homeomorphic endofunctors mapping submanifolds of a Hilbert space.

* https://twitter.com/agnoster/status/44636629423497217

(It's a 'spoof' on the Monad joke.)

Re: Learn the workings of Git, not just the commands (2015)

#5
Understanding what git is doing under the hood did more for my ability to use it effectively than it did for most tools.

That said, this document in particular does not seem to be a very good way to get that understanding, it's a very "IBM documentation" way of presenting git. I wish I remembered what I read, because it's was a much easier read.

Re: Learn the workings of Git, not just the commands (2015)

#7
post #5

Understanding what git is doing under the hood did more for my ability to use it effectively than it did for most tools. That said, this document in particular does not seem to be a very good way to get that understanding, it's a very "IBM documentation" way of presenting git. I wish I remembered what I read, because it's was a much easier read.

Maybe the git man pages? Iirc the man pages have 2 or 3 'getting started' documents that really made me feel confident. Then I didn't use it for two years and now it's real fuzzy again.

Re: Learn the workings of Git, not just the commands (2015)

#8
post #5

Understanding what git is doing under the hood did more for my ability to use it effectively than it did for most tools. That said, this document in particular does not seem to be a very good way to get that understanding, it's a very "IBM documentation" way of presenting git. I wish I remembered what I read, because it's was a much easier read.

For me it was "Git for Computer Scientists": https://eagain.net/articles/git-for-computer-scientists/

Re: Learn the workings of Git, not just the commands (2015)

#10
post #5

Understanding what git is doing under the hood did more for my ability to use it effectively than it did for most tools. That said, this document in particular does not seem to be a very good way to get that understanding, it's a very "IBM documentation" way of presenting git. I wish I remembered what I read, because it's was a much easier read.

Perhaps it was Pro Git's chapter 10: Git Internals(1)? I once used it as a guide when writing a basic 'git inspection' tool and definitely found the whole experience useful for getting a better understanding of Git.

1) https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Internals-Plumbing-and-Po...

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