Git Cheatsheet

General tips

• Prefer using git commit --amend, this will update the previous commit with your new changes. There is no point in having a bunch of commits that just called "fixes", use amend instead!

• Set the following global option to make it less likely to screw up stuff¹:

git config --global pull.ff only

• If you need to force push then always use --force-with-lease (this is more secure than --force).

• Use git status often so that you know whats going on.

• If you are on Windows check out Git on Windows.

Feature branches

Creating a feature branch

1. First checkout the branch you want to base your feature branch on

2. Then create your new branch:

git checkout -b name-of-feature-branch

3. And once you have a few commits and want to push it up for the first time:

git push -u origin head

Squash all commits on your feature branch

If you have a lot of commits that you want to squash in your feature branch.

Let's say your development branch is called dev, then you can run:

git reset --soft $(git merge-base origin/dev head)
git commit
git push --force-with-lease

Update your feature branch

Often you'll need to keep your feature branch up to date with new changes. You should do this often to avoid as many merge conflicts as possible. If you have a lot of commits then it may be helpful to squash stuff first before updating your branch (see above).

Let's say your development branch is called dev, then you can run:

git fetch
git rebase origin/dev
git push --force-with-lease

Advanced tips

• An interactive Git rebase can be used for both squashing and updating your branch, and gives you better control:

git fetch
git rebase -i origin/dev

• If you need to move some stuff over to its own PR you can:

  1. Go to your development branch (ex. git checkout dev && git pull)

  2. Create a new feature branch

  3. Copy inividual files or folder over from your other branch:

  git checkout old-branch-name src/file-or-folder

  4. Commit them in your new branch & push it up