What is Git?

Now that you are familiar with Version Control Systems, let’s explore the most popular VCS used by millions of developers, Git.

History of Git

Git is a VCS created in 2005 by Linus Torvalds who is also the creator and lead developer of the Linux kernel. He decided to write it during the development of the Linux kernel to allow developers to efficiently manage the workflow and collaborate despite being in different locations, since none of the version control systems available at that time could satisfy his requirements.

Why Git?

Let’s now discuss the reasons why Git is so popular.

• Git is free and open source and can be easily installed on Windows, macOS, Linux and all Unix-based platforms;

• Git has a distributed architecture which means that it isn't centralized around a single server. In fact, every person contributing to a repository has a full copy of the repository on their own machine;
• Git can work as a standalone program, as a server and as a client, since it does not depend on a centralized server. It is up to you how to use it: for instance, you may want to host a repository and use Git as a server or access a certain repository from another machine as a client. Well, you can even use it only on a single machine without having a network connection;

• Due to having local repositories, all the changes and other related operations in Git are really fast and efficient;

• Git allows you to either track your own private work or host a code on public servers such as Github and Gitlab to share it with others. You can even have a hosted private repository with only a few people having access to it.

Installation

Installing Git is not the most straightforward process, however, fortunately, we have a step-by-step guide to Git installation.

Here is the official Git website where you can find its documentation, installation files and more: git-scm.com.