of these Git basics, laying the groundwork for more advanced techniques as you progress through the course.15:T4bf,Collaborative software development goes past simple change tracking, it's about managing divergent development paths. Branches in Git offer an effective way to work independently on different features or fixes, providing a safe space to experiment without affecting the main codebase. In this chapter, you'll look into the mechanics of creating, managing, and merging branches, a fundamental skill for coordinating team efforts and maintaining a clean project history. You'll start by learning how to create a branch, allowing for parallel development without disrupting the main code line. Next, you'll explore how to switch between branches and make updates, enabling you to focus on specific tasks or features. Understanding how to merge branches will be an important focus, as it combines your work into a cohesive whole, ensuring continuity and collaboration among team members. You will also encounter scenarios where conflicts arise during merging, and discover strategies to resolve these effectively. By the end of this chapter, you will be equipped with the knowledge to use branches in your development workflow, improving both your productivity and your ability to work together in a team setting.16:T433,

Effectively managing and tracking changes in your projects requires a solid understanding of Git's fundamental commands. This chapter provides you with the essential commands that form the backbone of everyday Git usage. Mastering these commands will help you start repositories, track file changes, and work smoothly with others.

By the end of this chapter, you will learn how to:

Initialize a new Git repository and add files for tracking
Commit changes to your repository with meaningful messages
View the history of commits and comprehend their impact on your project
Use branches to manage different versions of your code concurrently
Merge chang

Basic Git Commands