Preface

If you are reading this book, you are probably a software developer and a professional. What makes a professional a good one? His culture and his experience, sure, but there’s more--a good professional is one who masters different tools, can choose the best tool for the job, and has the necessary discipline to develop good working habits.

Version control is one of the base skills for developers, and Git is one of the right tools for the job. However, Git is not a screwdriver, a simple tool with only a base function; Git provides a complete toolbox for managing your own code, within which there are also sharp tools that should be handled with caution.

The ultimate aim of this book is to help readers start using Git and its commands in the safest way, getting things done without injuries. Having said this, you will not get the most from Git commands if you do not acquire the right habits; as with other tools, in the end, it is the craftsman who makes the difference.

This is a book to be read in front of a computer; compared with the first edition, there are many more commands, examples, and exercises to test; in the first four chapters, we will learn by doing.

The book will cover all the basic Git topics, allowing readers to start using it even if they have little or no experience with versioning systems; they only need to know about versioning in general, so reading the related Wikipedia page will be sufficient.