Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting with version control, understanding how to efficiently manage and deploy code changes of an application is crucial. With over 18 years of tech experience, I consistently recommend Git, a powerful version control system widely used for tracking changes and collaborating on code. This tech concept, will walk you through a detailed, 5 step workflow for handling changes to your application using Git, ensuring that you can seamlessly update your remote repository.

1. Checking the Status of Your Repository

Before making any changes, it’s essential to understand the current state of your Git repository. This helps you see which files have been modified, added, or deleted. To check the status:

cd /path/to/your/project
git status

This command will display the state of your working directory and staging area. It highlights files that have been changed and are ready to be staged, as well as files that are not being tracked by Git.

2. Staging Your Changes

Once you’ve made modifications to your website, you need to stage these changes before committing them. Staging prepares your changes for the next commit. To add changes from a specific folder:

git add path/to/your/folder/

If you want to stage all changes across your entire repository, you can use:

git add .

This command stages all modified files in your repository, readying them for the next commit.

3. Committing Your Changes

Committing is the process of saving your staged changes to the local repository. Each commit includes a message that describes the changes made. To commit your staged changes:

git commit -m "Your descriptive commit message"

Choose a message that clearly explains what changes were made and why. This helps in tracking the history and understanding the evolution of your project.

4. Checking the Remote URL

Before pushing your changes, it’s a good practice to verify the remote URL associated with your repository. This ensures that you’re pushing to the correct remote repository. To check the remote URL:

git remote -v

This command lists the URLs of your remote repositories for fetching and pushing changes. Verify that the URL points to the correct remote repository.

5. Pushing Changes to the Remote Repository

Once you’ve committed your changes, you need to push them to the remote repository. This updates the remote repository with your local commits. To push changes:

git push origin main

Replace main with the name of the branch you’re working on if it’s different. This command uploads your commits to the specified branch on the remote repository.

6. (Optional) Verifying the Push

After pushing your changes, you might want to verify that everything went through correctly. To check your commit history:

git log

This command displays the commit history, showing your recent commits. You can also check the remote repository directly to ensure your changes are reflected there.

Workflow Summary

Managing changes to your application with Git involves a few critical steps:

1. Check the status: git status
2. Stage changes: git add path/to/your/folder/ or git add .
3. Commit changes: git commit -m "Your descriptive commit message"
4. Check remote URL: git remote -v
5. Push changes: git push origin main
6. Verify the push: git log

My Tech Advice: I always recommend following this 5-step workflow to ensure that your changes are accurately tracked, committed, and deployed. Mastering these steps will help you maintain a smooth and organized development process, making your Git workflow more efficient and reliable. Happy coding! 🧑🏻‍💻

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