Version control is an essential skill for any programmer, and Git is one of the most popular version control systems in use today. This section will introduce you to Git, explain its core concepts, and provide practical examples to help you integrate Git into your Bash scripting workflow.

Git is a distributed version control system that allows multiple people to work on a project simultaneously without overwriting each other's changes. It keeps track of every modification to the code in a special kind of database. If a mistake is made, developers can turn back the clock and compare earlier versions of the code to help fix the mistake while minimizing disruption to all team members.

• Repository (Repo): A directory which contains your project work, including all files and folders, along with a special .git directory that stores the version control information.
• Commit: A snapshot of your repository at a specific point in time.
• Branch: A parallel version of your repository. By default, Git has a branch named main (or master).
• Merge: Combining changes from different branches.
• Clone: A copy of a repository.
• Push: Sending your committed changes to a remote repository.
• Pull: Fetching and merging changes from a remote repository to your local repository.

Before you can use Git, you need to install it and configure your environment.

To install Git, use the following commands based on your operating system:

• Ubuntu/Debian:

  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install git
  

• Fedora:

  sudo dnf install git
  

• macOS:

  brew install git
  

After installing Git, configure your username and email address. This information will be associated with your commits.

To start using Git, you need to initialize a repository in your project directory.

To clone an existing repository:

To check the status of your repository:

To add files to the staging area:

To add all files:

To commit changes with a message:

To view the commit history:

Creating a Branch

To create a new branch:

Switching Branches

To switch to a different branch:

Merging Branches

To merge a branch into the current branch:

Pushing Changes

To push changes to a remote repository:

Pulling Changes

To pull changes from a remote repository:

Let's create a simple Bash script and manage it with Git.

1. Initialize a Repository:

   mkdir my-bash-scripts
   cd my-bash-scripts
   git init
   

2. Create a Script:

   echo '#!/bin/bash' > hello.sh
   echo 'echo "Hello, World!"' >> hello.sh
   chmod +x hello.sh
   

3. Add and Commit the Script:

   git add hello.sh
   git commit -m "Add hello.sh script"
   

4. Create a New Branch:

   git branch feature-update
   git checkout feature-update
   

5. Update the Script:

   echo 'echo "This is an updated script."' >> hello.sh
   git add hello.sh
   git commit -m "Update hello.sh script"
   

6. Merge the Branch:

   git checkout main
   git merge feature-update
   

1. Create a new directory and initialize a Git repository.
2. Create a new Bash script that prints "Hello, Git!".
3. Add and commit the script to the repository.

1. Create a new branch called feature-branch.
2. Update the script to print "Hello, Feature Branch!".
3. Commit the changes and merge the branch back into main.

In this section, you learned the basics of Git, including how to set up a repository, commit changes, create branches, and merge them. These skills are crucial for managing your Bash scripts and collaborating with others. In the next module, we will explore best practices and optimization techniques for writing efficient and maintainable Bash scripts.