Setup, init, clone and the three areas — Git & GitHub — Version Control from Basics to Advanced

1. Setup, init, clone and the three areas

Basic★ Must knowLesson 1 of 10

bash

git config --global user.name "Divakar Upadhyay"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"
git config --global init.defaultBranch main

git init                       # new repo in the current folder
git clone https://github.com/org/repo.git   # copy an existing repo (all history)

The three areas:

text

Working tree  --git add-->  Staging area (index)  --git commit-->  Repository (.git)
   (your files)               (what goes in the next commit)          (history)

bash

git status                     # what changed, what is staged
git add Program.cs             # stage one file
git add -p                     # stage chosen hunks interactively (great for clean commits)
git commit -m "Validate order quantity"
git log --oneline --graph --decorate --all
git diff                       # working tree vs staged
git diff --staged              # staged vs last commit

.gitignore — never commit build output, secrets or local settings:

text

bin/
obj/
node_modules/
*.user
.vs/
appsettings.Development.json
.env

Interview tip: A good commit message: short imperative summary (≤ 50 chars), blank line, then why. "Fix null reference when customer has no address".