git work flow

Git Workflow

Git workflow diagram

Below is a concise, ordered explanation of a typical Git workflow covering the most common local and remote operations.

1

Create a branch and make changes

Get into your project and create a new branch (example name shown):

git checkout -b new_branch

Work on your code locally on that branch.

2

Stage changes

Move changes from the working tree to the staging area:

git add <files-or->.

This prepares files to be committed.

3

Commit changes

When staged changes are ready, commit them to your local branch:

git commit -m "Your commit message"

This moves staged changes into your local repository.

4

Push to remote

Push your local branch to the remote repository:

git push origin new_branch

This sends your local commits to the remote repo (e.g., GitHub).

5

Fetch and integrate coworkers' changes

To fetch updates from the remote (without merging them into your working tree):

git fetch

After fetching, inspect the incoming changes and integrate them using either:

• Merge:

git merge origin/other_branch

• Or rebase:

git rebase origin/other_branch

Choose merge or rebase depending on your workflow and history preferences.

6

Pull (fetch + merge in one)

If you want to fetch and immediately integrate the remote changes into your current branch:

git pull

Note: This is equivalent to git fetch followed by git merge (unless you configure a different behavior).

7

Switch branches (checkout)

To switch to another existing branch or create-and-switch:

• Switch to existing:

git checkout some_branch

• Create and switch:

git checkout -b another_branch

This changes your working tree to the target branch so you can continue working locally.

git fetch + git merge is the explicit two-step approach that lets you review incoming changes before integrating. git pull combines both steps and is faster when you trust the incoming changes.

Keep working hard!