Every time a developer works on a project, there are a lot of changes: someone adds a new file, someone edits the old code, and sometimes you need to return everything to the state it was yesterday. Without a reliable way to store and track these edits, it's easy to get confused and lose important data.

That 's why they came up with Git, a version control system that helps not only keep a history of changes, but also to work in a team without interfering with colleagues. Today, Git has become an integral tool in almost all IT teams: from small startups to large corporations.

In this article, we will explain in simple words what Git is, why it is so important to a developer, and how to easily manage changes in any project using it.

1. What is Git — in simple terms

Imagine a book in which you make edits and notes at the same time. Every time you make an important touch, you glue a new page on top of the old one and sign the date. If you later decide that the previous option was better, you simply tear off a fresh page and return to the previous state. Git works in much the same way: it saves snapshots of the code at different points in time so that you can easily roll back if something went wrong.

From a technical point of view, Git is a distributed version control system. "Distributed" means that each participant in the project has there is a complete copy of the entire change history: no one depends on one central server, and work is even offline. Besides it, Git is able to create branches — parallel versions of your "book‑project", where you can experiment without affecting the main code.

Thanks to Git developers can confidently make corrections, test new ideas, and combine each other's work results without the risk of accidentally erasing other people's changes. In many ways, this is what makes Git so popular: it turns a chaos of edits into a neatly ordered story that can be easily navigated.

2. Why does a developer need Git?

When you write code without Git, any changes are stored in a single file, and it's easy to lose important edits or get confused about what was changed and when. Git helps you save each stage of work as a separate commit — it's like taking a snapshot of the current state of a project. Thanks to this, you can always roll back to the previous version if the new idea didn't work or there was an error in the code.

When working in a team, you may encounter the problem of editing the same files at the same time. Git solves this problem using branches: each developer creates his own branch for new functionality and works independently of the others, and then Git merges these changes into the main branch. This eliminates the situation when participants accidentally overwrite someone else's code.

Besides, Git stores information about who made a change and when. Such a story helps to understand the causes of mistakes faster, as well as to understand what decisions were made earlier. As a result, Git becomes not just a tool for storing code, but also a source of knowledge about the development of the project.

3. How Git works — at a basic level

Git is based on repositories, which are special folders that store not only the current version of the project, but also the entire revision history. When you run the git init command, Git creates a hidden folder.git, where it stores data about commits, branches, and links between them. This allows you to view which files have been changed at any time and return the desired version.

Each change is recorded by the git commit command: you add files to the index (git add), and then save a snapshot with a message describing the essence of the edits. A commit object is created inside Git, which contains a link to the previous commit, metadata about the author, and changes to files. This approach allows you to build a chain of commits, along which Git easily paves the way back and forth.

To work on new features or fixes, branches are created (git branch and git checkout). A branch is a pointer to one of the commits from which you start experimenting. When the work is done, you perform a git merge to merge the branch with the main line of development (usually main or master). At the same time, Git automatically saves data about which changes were made in each branch, and, if necessary, allows you to resolve conflicts if the edits concerned the same lines of code.

GitHub is a cloud platform built around Git. If Git is your local version control tool, then GitHub provides remote storage., where you can host your repositories on the Internet. Thanks to this, colleagues or anyone can clone (download) your project, view the revision history and make edits via a pull request.

The main difference between GitHub and Git is that GitHub adds a user-friendly web interface and a variety of collaboration services to the basic functions of Git.:

· Issues — a tracker of issues and bugs where you can leave comments;

·       Pull Requests is a mechanism for discussing and merging changes before including them in the main branch.;

·       Actions — automation of project assembly, testing and deployment.

Thanks to GitHub, teams get a single place to store code, discussions, and CI/CD processes. You continue to use the familiar Git commands (git push, git pull), and GitHub makes sure that your repository is available anywhere in the world and at any time.

5. What does the basic process of working with Git look like?

Working with Git begins with the initialization of the repository: you go to the project folder and type git init. After that, a hidden folder will appear in it.git, where all the version data will be stored . This allows you to immediately commit changes and use version control features.

Next, you make changes to the files and prepare them for saving: with the git add <file_name> command, you put the edits in the index — a kind of "draft" of a future commit. When you are satisfied with the set of changes, the git commit command -m "Edit Message" creates a commit snapshot of the current state with a clear comment. This comment helps you and your colleagues understand what each commit is responsible for.

To share your work with others or save it to the cloud, git push origin <branch> is used: Git sends your commits from a local repository to a remote one (for example, GitHub). Conversely, the git pull team pulls up changes from colleagues, synchronizing your a local copy from a remote one. So, in several teams, you can simultaneously develop and quickly receive fresh edits from each other.

6. What tools are used with Git

Although Git was originally conceived as a command-line tool, today there are many graphical clients and plug-ins for editors that simplify the work. For example, VS Code offers a built-in interface for staging, commits, and viewing history directly in the editor. And individual applications like GitKraken and Sourcetree visually display the branch graph and help resolve conflicts in convenient dialogues.

Additionally , developers often configure Git Hooks scripts that run on events (pre—commit, pre-push) to automatically run tests or check the code style before saving changes. CI/CD services are used for team automation. (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI), which can run builds, tests, and even deployments to the server with each commit.

If you are just starting out, install Git, configure global settings user.name and user.email, and try to create a repository, make a couple of commits and push them to the cloud. This will give you a solid foundation for further skill development.

Conclusion

Git has been around for a long time It has become a standard in IT: knowledge of the version control system is expected from any developer, even if he works alone. Git helps preserve project history, simplifies collaboration, and makes rollbacks safe. Without it, projects quickly turn into a confusing chaos of edits.

Having mastered Git, You can confidently make changes, experiment in individual branches, and easily fix bugs. This skill not only speeds up your work, but also enhances your professionalism: employers and colleagues value a developer who values order and reliability.

We publish more useful materials on development, tools and practice in IT in our Telegram channel. DaT Studio. Subscribe so you don't miss new articles!