Ever wonder what Git does behind the scenes when you run git commit
or git push
? That mysterious .git
folder holds all the magic—it's Git's brain, memory, and filing system rolled into one. Today we're cracking it open to see how Git really works under the hood.
5 posts tagged with "advanced-git"
View All TagsGit Worktrees: Multiple Branches, Zero Context Switching
You're knee-deep in a feature branch when urgent production fire hits. Instead of stashing, switching, and losing your mental context, what if you could just... open another folder and work on the hotfix immediately? Git worktrees make this possible, and once you experience the workflow, you'll wonder how you ever lived without them.
Walking Back with Git: HEAD^ vs HEAD~ Demystified
Ever stared at a Git command with HEAD^
or HEAD~
and wondered if you're about to accidentally nuke your commit history? You're not alone. These two syntaxes look suspiciously similar but behave differently when your repository gets complex. Here's the playbook I'd run to understand when to use which one.
Git Diff Deep Dive: Choosing the Right Algorithm for Your Workflow
Have you ever stared at a Git diff that looks like it was generated by a cat walking across your keyboard? You're not alone. While Git's default diff algorithm works well enough most days, there are times when it produces cryptic, unusable output that leaves you scratching your head.
Git Notes & Trailers: The Hidden Features You Should Be Using
I stumbled across Git Notes during a late-night debugging session last week, and honestly, I'm slightly annoyed that I hadn't been using this feature for years. If you've ever wanted to attach persistent metadata to commits without changing commit hashes (and who hasn't?), this hidden gem deserves your attention. And while we're exploring Git's underappreciated features, let's also look at Git trailers - another powerful tool for managing metadata in your repositories.