Updated March 17, 2023
Introduction to Git Life Cycle
Git is one of the premier distributed version control systems available for programmers and corporates. In this article, we will see details about how a project that is being tracked by git proceeds with workflow i.e Git Life Cycle. As the name suggests is regarding different stages involved after cloning the file from the repository. It covers the git central commands or main commands that are required for this particular version control system
Workflow of Git Life Cycle
The workflow of the Git as follows:
- We will create a branch on which we can work on and later we will merge it with master
- Clone: First, when we have code present in the remote repository, we clone to local to form something called a local repository.
- Modifications/Adding Files: we perform several developments on the existing files or may as well add new files. Git will monitor all these activities and will log them.
- We need to move the content that we require to transform to the master to the staging area by using git commands and the snapshot of staged files will be saved in the git staging area.
- We need to perform commits on the files that are staged and the recorded snapshot from the above steps will be permanently saved on the local repo and this particular is recorded by commit message for future referrals.
- Once we commit the code is available on the local repo but to send it to the master repo we need to perform PUSH operation
- If someone else is working on the same branch then there will be a possibility that he might have added his changes to the master by push. So we need to perform PULL operation before the PUSH operation if multiple people are working on the same branch and this workflow as shown below.
- Once the target branch is updated we need to get all the required approvals so that merge operation with the master is allowed.
This is the basic workflow of git was lots of intermediate commands like git add, git status, git commit, git push origin, git rebase, git merge, git diff, etc will be used depending upon the requirement of the user.
Stages of Git Life Cycle
So we have seen the workflow of the git life cycle above. But we need to know that we have a project linked with git then that project can reside in there of the following areas. Below mentioned areas are ingredients to the recipe of Git and having an idea of them will help you a lot to track the files that you are working on.
The stages are as discussed:
- Working Directory
- Staging Area
- Git Directory
These Three Stages are explained below:
1. Working Directory
- If you have your project residing on to your local machines then basically it is called even though it is linked to git or not. In either case, it will be called as the working directory. But when the available project is linked with git then basically there will be .git folder hidden in the so-called working directory. So the presence of the .git folder is enough to say that the folder is working copy on the machine and it is tracked by the git.
- At this stage, git knows what are the files and folders that it’s tracking that’s it. No other info will be available regarding this. To make sure that the newly added files get tracked in the working copy we need to make sure that those files are staged and this is our second residence for the files.
2. Staging Area
- When we make changes to the existing files in the working repo or if we add any folder of files and if we want these changes to need to be tracked and also need to be moved to the local repo for tracking then we need to move these changed files or newly added folder of file to the staging area. Git add is the basic command which will be used to move the modified files to the staged area.
- It’s ticked that been give to modified files or newly added folder of file to travel to the local repo for further traction. Those files that don’t have that ticket will be tracked by the git but they won’t be able to move to the target easily. Here index plays a critical role. GIT Index is something that comes in between local repo and working directory and it is the one that decides what needs to be sent to the local repo and in fact, it decides what needs to be sent to the central repo.
3. GIT Directory
- When we have done the modifications or addition of files or folder and want them to be part of the repository they first we do is to move them to the staging area and they will commit ready. When we commit then provide the appropriate commit message and files will be committed and get updated in the working directory.
- Now git tracks the commits and commit messages and preserves the snapshot of commit files and this is done in the Git specific directory called Git Directory. Information related to all the files that were committed and their commit messages will be stored in this directory. We can say that this git directory stores the metadata of the files that were committed.
Advantages
Below are some advantages mentioned below:
- Git the life cycle describes how a project that is being tracked by git proceeds in its stages of development and deployment. So the life cycle steps and stages provided by git are more concise and helpful for various reasons. Like we need a staging area and we might wonder why it is required?.
- We require a staging area for the faster and efficient operation of git in tracking the files that need to be committed, so that at a later point of time if any issues arise we can traceback easily. It helps us to validate the files before and after the commits so that we can be sure of what we are committing.
- Snapshot of files or metadata maintained by git is highly useful when we plan to merge and at which particular snapshot or commit we need to merge. These are some of the advantages of the git life cycle
Conclusion
Thus it is generally the life cycle of the project that is being tracked and knowing each feature involved in the workflow of git and git stages can make you master while working on the project with git. Some various tools and commands are available that need to be used and these commands are actually what needs to be used so that the flow of a project in git continues.
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This is a guide to Git Life Cycle. Here we discuss the meaning, basic workflow, stages, along with advantages of the Git Life Cycle. You may also look at the following article to learn more –
