Next Level Git

Schedule

The time frames are only estimates and may vary according to how the class is progressing.

Day 1

Segment 1 – Git core concepts refresh ( 30 min)

• Instructor will present an overview of some key Git concepts including distributed vs. centralized source management, the Git promotion model, and merging and rebasing.
• Students will gain a reminder and/or understanding of core concepts they need to know for the rest of the class.

Segment 2 – Useful commands for retrieving previous content (20 min)

• Instructor will present an overview of the following Git commands: stash, reset, and revert with an emphasis on use cases for each.
• Students will gain an understanding of these commands, their functionality, utility and how to make use of them in their everyday workflows.

Break (10 min)

Segment 3 – Rerere (reuse recorded resolution) (20 min)

• Instructor will cover the Git rerere command with an explanation of what the command does, options, use cases, and examples.
• Students will gain an understanding of the rerere command and how to make use of it to simplify their workflow when working with Git.

Assignment: Using rerere. Students will learn how to use rerere to teach Git how to resolve merges automatically.

Assignment time: 15 min

Segment 4 – Bisect (10 min)

• Instructor will cover the Git bisect command with an explanation of what the command does, options, use cases, and examples.
• Students will gain an understanding of the bisect command and how to make use of it to simplify their workflow when working with Git.

Assignment: Using bisect. Students will learn how to use bisect to quickly identify the commit that introduced a problem.

Assignment time: 10 min

Break (10 min)

Segment 5 – Worktrees (15 min)

• Instructor will explain how to create and work with worktrees in Git to allow for parallel work on different branches. This will include an explanation of what the command does, options, use cases, and examples.
• Students will gain an understanding of what worktrees are in Git, and how to create and use them for working on multiple branches at once.

Assignment: Working with worktrees. Students will gain experience with using worktrees to simplify working on multiple branches at the same time.

Assignment time: 10 min

Segment 6 – Submodules (20 min)

• Instructor will explain what submodules are and go into detail on how they relate to other Git projects, how to update them, their benefits, and how to keep them in sync.
• Instructor will explain the issues surrounding using submodules.
• Students will gain an understanding of what submodules are and the benefits, complexity and challenges associated with using them.

Assignment: Working with submodules. Students will gain experience with creating, updating, and maintaining submodules in Git.

Assignment time: 15 min

Day 2

Segment 7 – Subtrees (20 min)

• Instructor will explain what subtrees are and how they differ from submodules.
• Instructor will explain how to add subtrees to a project, update them, and merge them.
• Instructor will explain the difference between subtrees and the subtree merge strategy in Git.
• Instructor will explain how to use the subtree functionality to create a new project from split content.
• Students will gain an understanding of what subtrees are, how they differ from submodules, how to add them to a project, and how to update them.
• Students will learn how to split content into a separate project using subtree functionality.

Assignment: Working with subtrees. Students will gain experience with creating, updating, and maintaining subtrees in Git.

Assignment time: 10 min

Segment 8 – Filter-branch (20 min)

• Instructor will explain how to use the Git filter-branch plumbing command to rewrite history in Git using several of the built-in filters that the command provides.
• As a subtopic, instructor will explain the rev-list command, which provides a way to list out revisions based on a range or criteria.
• Students will learn how to use the filter-branch command to split a subdirectory into a separate repository.
• Students will learn how to use to use filter-branch to delete a file from all versions in a repository and change the email address on versions in Git history.

Assignment: Working with filter-branch. Students will use filter-branch to split out a subdirectory into a separate repository, remove a file from the history, and change the email address on a series of commits.

Break (10 min)

Assignment time: 15 min

Segment 9 – Interactive rebase (10 min)

• Instructor will explain how to use the Git interactive rebase functionality to alter commits in various ways.
• Students will learn how to use interactive rebase, including what each of the available subcommands does.

Assignment: Interactive rebase. Students will use the interactive rebase functionality to squash multiple commits down into one.

Assignment time: 10 min

Segment 10 – Supporting files (20 min)

• Instructor will discuss the Git attributes file and how it can be used to identify binary files, specify line endings for file types, implement custom filters, and have Git ignore specific file paths during merging.
• Instructor will explain the use and structure of the Git ignore file to identify files and directories that should not be processed by Git.
• Students will learn all of the ways to use the Git attributes and Git ignore files as outlined above.

Assignment: Leveraging a Git Attributes file. Students will implement a Git attributes file to do some custom filtering.

Assignment time: 15 min

Segment 11 – Other useful commands (10 min)

• Instructor will discuss the Git notes command and how to use it to augment information about commits.
• Instructor will discuss the Git grep command and how to use it to locate information within a Git repository.
• Students will understand how to use the notes and grep commands.

Segment 12 – Customizing and extending Git’s functionality with hooks (20 min)

• Instructor will discuss the different types of hooks that Git supports and how they can be invoked and leveraged.
• Instructor will provide examples of hooks written in different programming languages.
• Students will gain an understanding of the different hooks available in Git and how they can be leveraged with different programming languages.

Assignment: Writing a simple hook. In this lab, students will create a simple Git hook, install it, and see it in action.

Assignment time: 15 min