Git Cheatsheet In Simple English for Beginners

If you interact with code or software, chances are that you eventually have to work with git and github — you can think of git as google docs but for code. I’ve worked with quite a few students who are new to git, and have observed that git can be quite confusing for someone who’s completely new. As such, here’s an explanation of some basic git commands in simple english that’ll hopefully save our collective time

Cloning An Existing Online Repository

git clone link_to_repository_you_want_to_clone

Example:

git clone https://github.com/zlliu246/test.git

If there is an existing repository online (on github, bitbucket etc), and you want to copy and paste all the files onto your own computer (thereby known as your local machine), this is the command for you.

1. This only works if there is an existing repository online
2. Do this instead of downloading a zip file — if you download a zip, you cannot perform other git operations after you extract. If you git clone, you can. (provided you have access)