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Learn how to push your code to GitHub with four essential Git commands: git status, git add, git commit, and git push.
May 19, 2024
Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash
Whether you are working on an AI or full-stack app project, version control is crucial for managing changes and collaborating with others.
GitHub is a well-known website for creating and sharing Git repositories, and it can be used for all kinds of AI and development projects.
Understanding how to push your code to GitHub is essential for any developer.
Here, we'll cover the four commands you need to do this: git status, git add ., git commit -m, and git push origin main.
Before we dive into the commands, let's talk about staging and the staging area.
A staging area is a place where you can group the code changes on your local machine that you want to include in your next commit.
It allows you to review and modify those changes before they become a part of the repository’s history.
This intermediate step ensures that you only commit the changes you intend to make. It keeps your commit history clean and meaningful.
Before making any changes to your repository, it's a good idea to check the current status of your working directory.
The 'git status' command provides a detailed summary of the changes in your working directory and staging area.
Type this in the command line:
git status
When you run this command, Git will show you which files have been modified.
It will also display the files that are staged for the next commit.
And if you created any new files since the last commit, it will show you which files are currently untracked (i.e., new).
This check helps you see your project's current state. You can then decide what changes to stage and commit.
Once you've reviewed the status of your working directory, the next step is to stage your changes.
The 'git add' command adds changes to the staging area.
As you know by now, the staging area is that in-between space where you prepare your changes to be included in the upcoming commit.
The '.' argument after 'git add' stages all changes in the current directory and its subdirectories.
Add the full code in the command line:
git add .
This command is powerful because it stages all modified and new files simultaneously.
However, use it with caution, especially in large projects. That way, you can avoid accidentally staging files you don't intend to commit.
Once you have staged your changes, the following step is to save them to your local repository.
You do this by making a 'commit'.
The 'git commit' command creates a new commit with the staged changes. The '-m' option allows you to include a commit message directly from the command line.
git commit -m "Your commit message"
A professional commit message should be brief.
However, it should also clearly explain the changes you've made to other developers (or your future self).
For example, "Fixed bug in user authentication" or "Added new feature for data visualization."
Finally, once you've committed your changes locally, you'll want to push them to your remote repository on GitHub.
The 'git push' command uploads your commits to the remote repository. 'origin' refers to the default name of the remote repository, and 'main' is the branch you're pushing to.
Push the code by typing this in command line:
git push origin main
This command ensures that your local changes are reflected in the remote repository.
It makes them available to collaborators and backs them up on GitHub.
Using these four commands, you can effectively manage and push your code to GitHub. Here's a quick recap:
By mastering these commands, you'll be well on your way to becoming proficient with Git and GitHub, making your development workflow smoother and more efficient.
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