The Nitty Gitty

Git is not complicated, but it is complex (and confusing). In this talk, Daniel explains the basic building blocks of git: commits, blobs, trees and refs. He then builds on this foundation, past branches and merges to remotes and rebases in an attempt to demystify the tool we all rely on.

Presented at Async Brighton meetup 05/09/2019

https://asyncjs.com/nitty-gitty/

Transcript

1. Daniel van Berzon
   @ocastahq ocasta.com
   @dvberzon vanberzon.com
   

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3. Git has a lot of commands!
   > git commit
   > git checkout
   > git pull
   > git branch -D
   > git remote add
   > git rebase
   > git reflog
   > git merge —-blanket
   

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4. Git has a lot of commands!
   > git commit
   > git checkout
   > git pull
   > git branch -D
   > git remote add
   > git rebase
   > git reflog
   > git merge —-blanket
   > git quiltimport
   

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5. • This talk is not a tutorial
   • I am not an expert
   • We can not cover everything
   

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6. This is a car.
   Passenger
   What kind of users does a car have?
   

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7. Passenger
   

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8. Driver
   

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9. Mechanic
   

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10. Project manager Developer Lead dev
    

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11. Git is not a car.
    

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12. Git is not a car... it's a skateboard
    

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13. Git is ...
    Complicated
    ?
    Confusing
    Complex
    

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14. Language
    Window
    

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15. Climb through the window
    Clean the window
    Polysemy
    

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16. Polysemy
    is a paper ...
    that prints papers
    on paper
    

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17. Git is riddled with polysemy
    Commit
    Commit = Snapshot Commit = Diff
    

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18. Checkout
    ...a book from a library
    • Check out a file
    • File is locked
    • Only you can change it
    • Check in file when finished
    

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19. checkout
    • Move onto a branch
    • Start a new branch
    • Temporarily move on to a commit
    • Remove local changes to a file
    > git checkout mybranch
    > git checkout -b mybranch
    > git checkout 5bd33a3b
    > git checkout index.html
    

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20. Demystify
    Building blocks Branch model History Cool tricks
    

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21. > git init
    

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22. Basics
    Git repository
    Working directory Index
    index.html
    css
    styles.css
    index.html
    css
    styles.css
    index.html
    > git add
    styles.css
    index.html
    css
    styles.css
    > git commit
    

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23. Building blocks
    

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24. Blob Tree
    Ref Commit
    Object model
    

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25. !Blob Binary Long Object
    mr-blobby.jpg
    1111111111011000111111111110000000000000000100
    0001001010010001100100100101000110000000000000
    0001000000010000000000000000000000010000000000
    0000010000000000000000111111111101101100000000
    1000010000000000000001010000001100000100000010
    0000000110000001110000100000000101000001010000
    1000000001100000010100000101000001010000011000
    0001110000010100000101000001110000010100000111
    0000010100000101000001110000010100000101000001
    0100000111000010000000011100000111000001110000
    0111000001110000011100001010000100000000101100
    0001110000100000001110000010010000011100000111
    0000110100010101000011010000111000010001000100
    0100010011000100110001001100000111000010110001
    0110000110000001011000010010000110000001000000
    0100100001001100010010000000010000010100000101
    0000010100001000000001110000100000001111000010
    0100001001000011110001001000001101000011010000
    1101000100100001001000010010000100100001001000
    0100100001001000010010000100100001001000010010
    0001001000010010000100100001001000010010000100
    1000010010000100100001001000010010000100100001
    0010000100100001001000010010000100100001001000
    0100100001001000010010000100100001001000010010
    0001001000010010000100100001001000010010000100
    1000010010000100100001001000010010000100100001
    0010000100100001001000010010000100101111111111
    0000000000000000010001000010000000001011010000
    0000010100000000000000110000000100100010000000
    

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26. !Blob Binary Long Object
    mr-blobby.jpg
    index.html
    1111000010000101100100011011110110001101110100
    0111100101110000011001010010000001101000011101
    0001101101011011000011111000001010000010100011
    1100011010000111010001101101011011000010000001
    1011000110000101101110011001110011110100100010
    0110010101101110001000100011111000001010001111
    0001101000011001010110000101100100001111100000
    1010001000000010000000111100011011010110010101
    1101000110000100100000011000110110100001100001
    0111001001110011011001010111010000111101001000
    1001110101011101000110011000101101001110000010
    0010001111100000101000100000001000000011110001
    1101000110100101110100011011000110010100111110
    0100000101110011011110010110111001100011001000
    0001000111011010010111010000100000010101000110
    0001011011000110101100111100001011110111010001
    1010010111010001101100011001010011111000001010
    0010000000100000001111000110110101100101011101
    0001100001001000000110111001100001011011010110
    0101001111010010001001100100011001010111001101
    1000110111001001101001011100000111010001101001
    0110111101101110001000100010000001100011011011
    1101101110011101000110010101101110011101000011
    1101001000100100000101110011011110010110111001
    1000110010000001100111011010010111010000100000
    0111010001100001011011000110101100100010001111
    1000001010001000000010000000111100011011010110
    0101011101000110000100100000011011100110000101
    1011010110010100111101001000100110000101110101
    

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27. 88d4d9db7773a672280c5dfb085689041f0e9a70
    14b564ced10ef9ef0e741718d60ac1966d6913c0
    SHA hash
    !Blob
    

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28. Hello world
    11010000 11001010 11011000 11011000
    11011110 01000000 11101110 11011110
    11100100 11011000 11001000
    SHA
    22596363b3de40b06f98
    1fb85d82312e8c0ed511
    SHA
    

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29. Hello world
    11010000 11001010 11011000 11011000
    11011110 01000000 11101110 11011110
    11100100 11011000 11001000
    11010000 11001010 11011000 11011000
    11011110 01000000 11101110 11011110
    11100100 11011000 11001000 00100001
    Hello world!
    SHA
    22596363b3de40b06f98
    1fb85d82312e8c0ed511
    430ce34d020724ed75a1
    96dfc2ad67c77772d169
    ≠
    SHA
    SHA
    

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30. • Git uses SHA hash as a unique ID for a blob
    • If a file changes, git stores a new blob with a new ID
    • SHA hash is uniquely determined by file contents:
    - Git can easily tell if a file has changed
    - Git will only store a file version once
    - Avoids ID clashes
    !Blob
    

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31. • Represents a single folder in the project file system
    • Also associated with an SHA ID
    • Has an entry for each file and subfolder:
    • Each entry has:
    " Tree
    - Name (index.html)
    - Type (blob or tree)
    - SHA ID
    

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32. " Tree
    blob a0423896973644771497bdc03eb99d5281615b51 index.html
    tree aaa96ced2d9a1c8e72c56b253a0e2fe78393feb7 css
    aaa96ced2d9a1c8e72c56b253a0e2fe78393feb7
    blob 790cce91278c3ad02f160faa6e1e61ca147a5c3a styles.css
    "
    ad5a762c172647d211a0881b8d9e98d38edc1de9
    "
    index.html
    css
    styles.css
    

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33. " Tree
    aaa96ced2d9a1c8e72c56b253a0e2fe78393feb7
    blob 790cce91278c3ad02f160faa6e1e61ca147a5c3a styles.css
    "
    "
    index.html
    css
    styles.css
    blob afc501a4a6ab0a7a229f31d05a7e843b9cbc22e5 index.html
    tree aaa96ced2d9a1c8e72c56b253a0e2fe78393feb7 css
    95c0282573633eb230f5064039e6b359e05e8752
    

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34. " Tree
    aaa96ced2d9a1c8e72c56b253a0e2fe78393feb7
    blob 790cce91278c3ad02f160faa6e1e61ca147a5c3a styles.css
    "
    "
    css
    styles.css
    about.html
    blob afc501a4a6ab0a7a229f31d05a7e843b9cbc22e5 about.html
    tree aaa96ced2d9a1c8e72c56b253a0e2fe78393feb7 css
    553ae7da92f5505a92bbb8c9d47be76ab9f65bc2
    

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35. • Commit is a snapshot of file system
    • Commit points project root tree
    • Commit meta-data:
    - SHA ID
    - Author, committer and date
    - A commit message
    - Parent commit
    ☄ Commit
    

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36. • Store a new blob for the new version of index.hml
    • Store a new tree for the project root
    • Store a commit pointing to the new root tree
    ☄ Commit
    Index.html
    css
    styles.css
    tree be5b6a45346870a56564ed2652bc51c5f48e1b59
    parent 343e4048d816fa663b56ff5021f2679018381b8d
    author Daniel van Berzon 1564416292 +0200
    committer Daniel van Berzon 1564416292 +0200
    Updating index.html with new banner
    

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37. $ Ref
    • Points to a commit
    • Has a meaningful name
    • Two types:
    % Tag & Branch
    Fixed to the commit Updates to latest commit
    

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38. % Tag
    a
    a b c d
    $ Ref
    %
    v2.0
    

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39. % Tag
    a
    a b c d e f
    $ Ref
    %
    v2.0
    

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40. % Tag
    a
    a b c d
    & Branch
    a
    a b c d
    e f
    $ Ref
    %
    v2.0
    &
    my-feature
    

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41. % Tag
    a
    a b c d
    & Branch
    a
    a b c d
    e f
    e f
    $ Ref
    %
    v2.0
    &
    my-feature
    

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42. Thats it for data!
    ! Blob
    " Tree
    ☄ Commit
    $ Ref
    > commands
    

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43. Branch Model
    

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44. • Points to commit
    • Each commit has a parent
    • Branch represents a linear history
    & Branch
    &
    my-feature
    

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45. • Branches are lightweight. Make as many as you like
    • Default branch is master
    • Create a branch
    • Move onto a branch
    • (Create and move)
    & Branch
    > git checkout mybranch
    > git branch mybranch
    > git checkout -b mybranch
    

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46. • Current position
    • Normally points to a branch
    • Checked out onto that branch
    • Possible to point directly to a commit
    ' HEAD
    "detached HEAD"
    

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47. & Branch
    > git init
    > git commit
    a
    &
    master
    '
    

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48. & Branch
    > git init
    > git commit
    > git commit
    > git commit
    b
    a c
    &
    master
    '
    

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49. & Branch
    > git init
    > git commit
    > git commit
    > git commit
    > git branch mybranch
    b
    a c
    &
    mybranch
    &
    master
    '
    

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50. & Branch
    > git init
    > git commit
    > git commit
    > git commit
    > git branch mybranch
    > git checkout mybranch
    b
    a c
    &
    mybranch
    &
    master
    '
    

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51. & Branch
    > git init
    > git commit
    > git commit
    > git commit
    > git branch mybranch
    > git checkout mybranch
    > git commit
    > git commit
    b
    a c
    d e
    &
    mybranch
    &
    master
    '
    

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52. & Branch
    > git init
    > git commit
    > git commit
    > git commit
    > git branch mybranch
    > git checkout mybranch
    > git commit
    > git commit
    > git checkout master
    b
    a c
    d e
    &
    mybranch
    &
    master
    '
    

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53. & Branch
    > git init
    > git commit
    > git commit
    > git commit
    > git branch mybranch
    > git checkout mybranch
    > git commit
    > git commit
    > git checkout master
    > git commit
    > git commit
    b
    a c
    d e
    f g
    &
    mybranch
    &
    master
    '
    

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54. & Branch
    b
    a c f g
    &
    mybranch
    d e
    b
    a c
    &
    master
    

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55. & Branch - why?
    • Multi-task
    

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56. & Branch - why?
    • Multi-task
    • Collaborate
    

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57. & Branch - why?
    • Multi-task
    • Collaborate
    • Experiment
    

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58. & Branch - why?
    • Multi-task
    • Collaborate
    • Experiment
    What happens when you're finished with a branch?
    

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59. • Incorporate changes from one branch into another
    • Bad name!
    • Merge: two things → one thing
    • Merge branch A into B → still two branches
    • Should be called Import
    ( Merge
    

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60. ( Merge
    Simplest case...
    &
    destination
    d e
    b
    a c &
    source
    b
    a c
    source is "ahead" of destination
    

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61. ( Merge
    &
    destination
    d e
    b
    a c &
    source
    b
    a c
    > git checkout destination
    > git merge source
    d e
    • destination has changed - source is unchanged
    

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62. ( Merge
    Fast-Forward merge
    d e
    b
    a c
    &
    source
    &
    destination
    

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63. ( Merge
    Fast-Forward merge
    d e
    b
    a c
    &
    source
    &
    destination
    

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64. ( Merge
    More complex case...
    source and destination have "diverged"
    &
    destination
    d e
    b
    a c &
    source
    b
    a c f g
    

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65. ( Merge
    &
    source
    b
    a c f g
    d e
    index.html
    Merge commit
    styles.css
    styles.css
    Common
    Ancestor &
    destination
    

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66. ( Merge
    &
    source
    b
    a c f g
    d e
    index.html
    Merge commit
    styles.css
    styles.css
    M
    styles.css
    index.html
    Merge commit
    Common
    Ancestor &
    destination
    > git checkout destination
    > git merge source
    

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67. ( Merge
    &
    destination
    &
    source
    b
    a c f g
    d e
    M
    

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68. ( Merge &
    destination
    &
    source
    b
    a c f g
    d e
    M
    • Merge commit has two parents
    • Contains diffs between source and common ancestor
    • Source branch remains unchanged
    • Git log on destination shows commit meta-data for d and e
    

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69. • Git is a distributed system
    • Collaborators each have a full copy of repo and history
    • Sync up with another repo using remote:
    - Repository on another machine
    - Git hosting service:
    - Another repo on your file system
    ) Remotes
    

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70. ) Remotes
    Local Machine https://github.com/dvberzon/
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    > git clone
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    Origin
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    )
    

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71. ) Remotes
    Local Machine https://github.com/dvberzon/
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    > git fetch
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    )
    Origin
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    d
    b
    a c
    &
    branch1
    d
    b
    a c
    &
    branch1
    

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72. ) Remotes
    Local Machine https://github.com/dvberzon/
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    )
    Origin
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    d
    b
    a c
    &
    branch1
    d
    b
    a c
    &
    branch1
    > git checkout
    d
    b
    a c
    &
    branch1
    Tracking branch
    

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73. ) Remotes
    Local Machine https://github.com/dvberzon/
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    > git fetch
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    )
    Origin
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    d
    b
    a c
    &
    branch1
    d
    b
    a c
    &
    branch1
    d
    b
    a c
    &
    branch1
    e
    e
    

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74. ) Remotes
    Local Machine https://github.com/dvberzon/
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    )
    Origin
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    d
    b
    a c
    &
    branch1
    d
    b
    a c
    &
    branch1
    > git merge
    d
    b
    a c
    &
    branch1
    e
    e
    e
    

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75. ) Remotes
    Local Machine https://github.com/dvberzon/
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    )
    Origin
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    d
    b
    a c
    &
    branch1
    d
    b
    a c
    &
    branch1
    d
    b
    a c
    &
    branch1
    > git pull
    e
    e
    e
    git fetch & git merge
    

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76. ) Remotes
    Local Machine https://github.com/dvberzon/
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    )
    Origin
    &
    master
    b
    a c
    d
    b
    a c
    &
    branch1
    d
    b
    a c
    &
    branch1
    d
    b
    a c e
    &
    branch1
    > git push
    e
    e
    f
    b
    a c g
    &
    mybranch
    f
    b
    a c g
    &
    mybranch
    f
    b
    a c g
    &
    mybranch
    

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77. History
    

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78. So far we have been adding commits to history
    What if we could
    change history?
    

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79. With great power comes great responsibility
    Rewriting History
    

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80. ✏ git commit --amend
    • Same process as commit
    • Instead of adding a new commit, adds changes to the
    current commit.
    • Can also edit the commit message
    b
    a c
    styles.css
    d
    index.html
    Ammend d
    

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81. ✏ git commit --amend
    • Same process as commit
    • Instead of adding a new commit, adds changes to the
    current commit.
    • Can also edit the commit message
    b
    a c
    styles.css
    d
    d'
    index.html
    d' has new SHA
    

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82. ↩ git reset
    • Opposite process to commit
    • Removes all commits up to and including the target
    • Diffs in the removed commits become local changes
    b
    a d
    Reset to b
    styles.css
    c
    index.html
    

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83. ↩ git reset
    • Opposite process to commit
    • Removes all commits up to and including the target
    • Diffs in the removed commits become local changes
    b
    a
    Reset to b
    styles.css
    index.html
    

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84. ⚾ git rebase
    • Change starting point (base) of a sequence of commits
    • Rewind commits to the starting point
    • Reapply commits from the new starting point
    b
    a c d e
    f g &
    branch1
    &
    master > git checkout branch1
    > git rebase master
    Current base
    New base
    

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85. ⚾ git rebase
    • Change starting point (base) of a sequence of commits
    • Rewind commits to the starting point
    • Reapply commits from the new starting point
    b
    a c d e &
    master
    f' g' &
    branch1
    f' and g' have new SHAs
    

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86. Why?
    

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87. Two ways to look at git history
    Story
    Record
    

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88. ...
    div.panel {
    background-color: #eee;
    display: flex;
    flex: 1 0 0;
    min-width: 250px;
    }
    ...
    styles.css
    - Story telling
    . in IE11
    

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89. ...
    div.panel {
    background-color: #eee;
    display: flex;
    - flex: 1 0 0;
    + flex: 1 0 0%;
    min-width: 250px;
    }
    ...
    styles.css
    Document the change?
    - Story telling
    

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90. ...
    div.panel {
    background-color: #eee;
    display: flex;
    - flex: 1 0 0;
    + /* IE11 requires % unit */
    + flex: 1 0 0%;
    min-width: 250px;
    }
    ...
    styles.css
    - Story telling
    

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91. ...
    div.panel {
    background-color: #eee;
    display: flex;
    - flex: 1 0 0;
    + flex: 1 0 0%;
    min-width: 250px;
    }
    ...
    styles.css
    ✉ Commit message
    commit 762258f4a4e64cdf156960d12fea785a3f11fdcf
    Author: Daniel van Berzon
    Date: Mon Jul 29 18:54:33 2019 +0200
    Added unit to flex basis
    This was causing a bug in IE11 where `flex`
    command is ignored if the basis part doesn't have
    a unit. More details here:
    https://github.com/philipwalton/flexbugs#flexbug-4
    

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92. - Story telling
    • A commit message can be used to document a change
    • Works best if each commit contains one logical change
    - Atomic commit
    • A logical sequence of atomic commits can tell a story
    

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93. View Slide

94. Different histories
    

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95. 0 Record
    

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96. 0 Record
    

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97. 0 Record
    

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98. - Story
    

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99. - Story
    

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100. - Story
     

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101. - Story
     

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102. • Git history that tells a coherent story has advantages:
     - Documents reason for changes
     - Easier to do code reviews
     - Easier to search and find bugs
     • Process of coding is messy
     • Use git commands to refactor history and tell the story
     1 Rewriting history
     

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103. &
     master
     &
     feature1
     &
     master
     &
     feature1
     b
     a c
     f g
     ⚾ why rebase?
     • Useful for keeping a clean history shape
     d e
     M h
     M
     b
     a c d e
     g'
     M
     h
     f'
     

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104. ⚾ why rebase?
     Merge
     Rebase
     

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105. Why not?
     

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106. Local Machine https://github.com/dvberzon/
     &
     branch1
     b
     a c
     ☠ Dangers of rewriting history
     &
     branch1
     b
     a c d
     e
     > git push
     

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107. Local Machine https://github.com/dvberzon/
     &
     branch1
     b
     a c
     ☠ Dangers of rewriting history
     &
     branch1
     b
     a c
     e
     > git push --force
     e
     

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108. Local Machine https://github.com/dvberzon/
     &
     branch1
     b
     a c
     ☠ Dangers of rewriting history
     &
     branch1
     b
     a c
     e
     > git push --force
     e
     &
     branch1
     b
     a c d
     Collaborator
     > git pull
     

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109. • Rewriting history causes problems with published branches
     • Some say you should not do it at all
     • Others say it's fine, but only on personal branches
     • There are ways to protect yourself from issues
     > git push --force-with-lease
     ☠ Dangers of rewriting history
     

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110. Cool Tricks
     

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111. 3 git add -p (partial add)
     • Allows you to add parts of a modified file to the index
     • Allows you to split changes to a file into separate commits
     Working directory Index
     > git add -p
     index.html
     index.html
     

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112. 4 Cherry-pick
     &
     source
     b
     a c f g
     d e
     Alternative to merging
     d'
     > git cherry-pick 762258f4
     commit 762258f4a4e64cdf156960d12fea785a3f11fdcf
     Author: Daniel van Berzon
     Date: Mon Jul 29 18:54:33 2019 +0200
     Add banner to index
     index.html
     &
     destination '
     commit 84e7456da575a5d3d205e7876c4f465800a207ad
     Author: Daniel van Berzon
     Date: Mon Jul 29 18:54:33 2019 +0200
     Add banner to index
     index.html
     

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113. 3 git rebase -i (interactive)
     • Works the same way as rebase...
     • You can edit list of commits to be reapplied in a text file
     pick 790cce9 add emphasis
     pick fb0b815 adding folder
     pick 762258f repeat
     pick 84e7456 a commit
     # Rebase 343e404..84e7456 onto 343e404 (4 commands)
     #
     # Commands:
     # p, pick = use commit
     # r, reword = use commit, but edit the commit message
     # e, edit = use commit, but stop for amending
     # s, squash = use commit, but meld into previous commit
     # f, fixup = like "squash", but discard this commit's log message
     

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114. 3 git rebase -i (interactive)
     • Works the same way as rebase...
     • You can edit list of commits to be reapplied in a text file
     • Allows you to:
     - Reorder or delete commits
     - Squash commits
     - Edit commit messages and contents
     pick 790cce9 add emphasis
     pick fb0b815 adding folder
     pick 762258f repeat
     pick 84e7456 a commit
     # Rebase 343e404..84e7456 onto 343e404 (4 commands)
     #
     # Commands:
     # p, pick = use commit
     # r, reword = use commit, but edit the commit message
     # e, edit = use commit, but stop for amending
     # s, squash = use commit, but meld into previous commit
     # f, fixup = like "squash", but discard this commit's log message
     

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115. That's all we have time for
     

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116. 5 In Memoriam
     Conflicts
     Workflows
     > git stash
     > git revert
     > git reflog
     > git blame (annotate)
     > git log -S (pickaxe)
     > git bisect
     

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117. 6 Useful links
     git-scm.com/book/en/v2
     • Pro git
     • Atlassian Git Tutorials
     • Git CLI tutorial
     • Oh shit git!
     www.atlassian.com/git
     ohshitgit.com/
     > git help tutorial
     

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118. Daniel van Berzon
     @ocastahq ocasta.com
     @dvberzon vanberzon.com
     Thank you
     

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