Intermediate — Cheat Sheet

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Intermediate

Git4 topicsQuick revision reference

Merge vs Rebase — When to Use Which

Merge preserves true history with a merge commit; rebase replays commits onto a new base for a clean linear history. The golden rule: never rebase commits that have been pushed to a shared branch.

✓Merge creates a merge commit and preserves true history — you can see when and how branches were integrated
✓Rebase replays commits with new hashes onto a new base — produces linear history, easier to read
✓Golden rule: NEVER rebase commits that have been pushed to a shared/remote branch
✓Typical workflow: rebase feature onto main before PR, then merge (or squash merge) PR into main
✓git rebase --abort undoes an in-progress rebase completely — safe escape hatch

Merge — preserving branch history

//  BEFORE MERGE
//
//  main:    A ── B ── E ── F
//                â””── C ── D  â† feature/cart
//
//  git switch main
//  git merge feature/cart
//
//  AFTER MERGE
//
//  main:    A ── B ── E ── F ── M   â† merge commit
//                â””── C ── D ───â”˜
//
//  The merge commit M has TWO parents: F and D
//  History clearly shows the branch existed

git switch main
git merge feature/cart
git log --oneline --graph
# *   a3f8c12 Merge branch 'feature/cart'
# |# | * 7b2e441 Add cart animation
# | * 3d9f2e0 Implement cart data structure
# * | 9c1a8b7 Fix checkout bug
# |/
# * 1a2b3c4 Initial commit

Undoing Changes — reset, revert, restore, stash

Git has four main undo mechanisms for different situations: restore (discard working changes), reset (move HEAD and optionally unstage/discard), revert (create a new commit that undoes a past commit), and stash (temporarily shelve work).

✓git restore: safe — only touches working directory or staging area, never commit history
✓git reset --soft: undo commit, keep changes staged. --mixed: unstage. --hard: discard everything âš ï¸
✓git revert: creates a new "undo commit" — the only safe way to undo pushed commits
✓git stash: temporary clipboard — save work in progress, switch context, restore later
✓git reset --hard permanently discards working directory changes — verify with git status first

git restore — working directory and stage

// â”Œ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────â”
// â”‚  git restore — safe, only affects working dir or stage     â”‚
// â””─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────â”˜

# Discard changes in working directory (IRREVERSIBLE for uncommitted)
git restore src/auth.js           # restore one file from last commit
git restore src/                  # restore entire directory
git restore .                     # discard ALL working directory changes

# Unstage (move from staging â†’ working directory, keep the change)
git restore --staged src/auth.js

# Both: unstage AND discard working directory changes
git restore --staged --worktree src/auth.js

# Restore a file to a specific commit's version
git restore --source=HEAD~3 src/auth.js

Git Log Mastery — History, Diff, Blame

git log, git diff, and git blame are your detective tools. Knowing how to filter, format, and search commit history is essential for debugging production issues, reviewing code, and understanding a codebase.

✓git log -S "string" (pickaxe) finds commits that added or removed a specific string — great for debugging
✓git log --graph --oneline --all gives the best quick visualisation of all branches
✓git diff --staged shows exactly what will be in the next commit — review before committing
✓git blame -L 10,25 file shows who wrote specific lines and in which commit
✓git bisect does O(log n) binary search to find the exact commit that introduced a bug

Powerful git log filters

# Visual graph (bookmark this)
git log --oneline --graph --all --decorate

# Filter by author
git log --author="Akshay"
git log --author="akshay|john"   # multiple authors (regex)

# Filter by date
git log --since="2024-01-01"
git log --until="yesterday"
git log --since="2 weeks ago" --until="1 week ago"

# Filter by commit message
git log --grep="payment"         # case-sensitive
git log --grep="payment" -i      # case-insensitive
git log --grep="fix" --grep="auth" --all-match  # both terms

# Find commits that added/removed a specific string (pickaxe)
git log -S "validateEmail"       # string added or removed
git log -G "validate.*Email"     # regex in diff content

# Filter by file
git log -- src/auth.js           # commits touching this file
git log -- "*.test.js"           # all test files

# Combine filters
git log --author="Akshay" --since="1 month ago" -- src/payment/

Tagging Releases & Workflow Patterns

Tags are permanent named pointers to specific commits — ideal for releases. Understanding Git workflows (GitHub Flow, Git Flow, trunk-based) helps teams decide how to structure branches and releases.

✓Annotated tags (-a) store tagger name, date, and message — always use for releases; lightweight tags are just pointers
✓Tags must be pushed explicitly: git push origin --tags (they are not included in git push)
✓GitHub Flow: main is always deployable, short-lived feature branches, PR to merge
✓Git Flow: separate develop and main branches, feature/release/hotfix branch types
✓Trunk-based development: everyone on main, feature flags control visibility — scales best

Annotated tags for releases

# Create an annotated tag (recommended for releases)
git tag -a v2.0.0 -m "Release 2.0.0 — payment gateway, cart redesign"

# Tag a specific past commit
git tag -a v1.9.1 9d2e441 -m "Hotfix: null pointer in checkout"

# List all tags
git tag
git tag -l "v2.*"   # filter by pattern

# Show tag details
git show v2.0.0
# tag v2.0.0
# Tagger: Akshay <a@example.com>
# Date: Mon Jan 15 2024
# Release 2.0.0 — payment gateway, cart redesign
# commit a3f8c12...

# Push tags to remote (tags are NOT pushed by default)
git push origin v2.0.0         # push one tag
git push origin --tags          # push all tags

# Delete a tag
git tag -d v2.0.0              # local
git push origin --delete v2.0.0  # remote

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Cheat Sheet

Intermediate

Git

4 topics · swipe →

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Intermediate

Merge vs Rebase — When to Use Which

✓Merge creates a merge commit and preserves true history — you can see when and how branches were integrated
✓Rebase replays commits with new hashes onto a new base — produces linear history, easier to read
✓Golden rule: NEVER rebase commits that have been pushed to a shared/remote branch
✓Typical workflow: rebase feature onto main before PR, then merge (or squash merge) PR into main
✓git rebase --abort undoes an in-progress rebase completely — safe escape hatch

//  BEFORE MERGE
//
//  main:    A ── B ── E ── F
//                â””── C ── D  â† feature/cart
//
//  git switch main
//  git merge feature/cart
//
//  AFTER MERGE
…

AiCanCode.org

Intermediate

Undoing Changes — reset, revert, restore, stash

✓git restore: safe — only touches working directory or staging area, never commit history
✓git reset --soft: undo commit, keep changes staged. --mixed: unstage. --hard: discard everything âš ï¸
✓git revert: creates a new "undo commit" — the only safe way to undo pushed commits
✓git stash: temporary clipboard — save work in progress, switch context, restore later
✓git reset --hard permanently discards working directory changes — verify with git status first

// â”Œ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────â”
// â”‚  git restore — safe, only affects working dir or stage     â”‚
// â””─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────â”˜

# Discard changes in working directory (IRREVERSIBLE for uncommitted)
git restore src/auth.js           # restore one file from last commit
git restore src/                  # restore entire directory
git restore .                     # discard ALL working directory changes

…

AiCanCode.org

Intermediate

Git Log Mastery — History, Diff, Blame

✓git log -S "string" (pickaxe) finds commits that added or removed a specific string — great for debugging
✓git log --graph --oneline --all gives the best quick visualisation of all branches
✓git diff --staged shows exactly what will be in the next commit — review before committing
✓git blame -L 10,25 file shows who wrote specific lines and in which commit
✓git bisect does O(log n) binary search to find the exact commit that introduced a bug

# Visual graph (bookmark this)
git log --oneline --graph --all --decorate

# Filter by author
git log --author="Akshay"
git log --author="akshay|john"   # multiple authors (regex)

# Filter by date
git log --since="2024-01-01"
…

AiCanCode.org

Intermediate

Tagging Releases & Workflow Patterns

✓Annotated tags (-a) store tagger name, date, and message — always use for releases; lightweight tags are just pointers
✓Tags must be pushed explicitly: git push origin --tags (they are not included in git push)
✓GitHub Flow: main is always deployable, short-lived feature branches, PR to merge
✓Git Flow: separate develop and main branches, feature/release/hotfix branch types
✓Trunk-based development: everyone on main, feature flags control visibility — scales best

# Create an annotated tag (recommended for releases)
git tag -a v2.0.0 -m "Release 2.0.0 — payment gateway, cart redesign"

# Tag a specific past commit
git tag -a v1.9.1 9d2e441 -m "Hotfix: null pointer in checkout"

# List all tags
git tag
git tag -l "v2.*"   # filter by pattern
…

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