Git has a messy learning curve. This file is an attempt to serve as a quick
reference for basic tasks while you get up to speed.

------------------------

git checkout [-f] (branch)

Switch your local repository to be at the most recent commit of (branch). 
Including -f will discard changes made in the working directory.


git status [-uall | -uno]

Shows all changed files in your local repository and also a list of the ones
you have staged for commit.
Including -uall will also show you all untracked files in all subdirectories.
Including -uno will show you _no_ untracked files.


git log [-NUM]
git log <commit1> <commit2>
git log [--pretty=one]
git log (branch)

For a full explanation of all the arguments you can pass to 'log', please see
the manual; there are a lot and these are just a few of the common ones. For 
our purposes, git log will show you all the commits according to criteria 
you specify:

-NUM: The last NUM commits in this branch
<commit1> <commit2>: all commits between commit1 and commit2
-pretty=one: format output as a single line for each entry
(branch): show the commits from (branch) instead of the current one


git add (filename)

Adds the changes you've made in (filename) to the pre-commit staging area.
(also referred to as the 'index')


git commit [-a] [-m "text"]

Commits all staged changes (in the index) to this branch in your local repo
from your current position.
Including -a will 'git add' all eligible files before doing so.
Including -m will use "text" as the commit message instead of opening an
editor window for you to create one.


git push [--all] [-u origin (branch)]

Sends all your commits for the current branch to the centralized repo.
Including --all will send the commits for _all_ branches.
Specifying -u is only needed the first time you push (branch) that you
created; it establishes the connection between local and remote for that
branch.


git reset [--hard] (filename)

Without any parameters, unstages the changes for (filename) from the index;
does not change the working tree. This is the equivalent of the command 
git reset --mixed (filename); git reset --soft (filename) has no effect.

With --hard, unstages (filename) from the index and reverts (filename) in
the working tree to the most recent commit.

*** WARNING *** --hard _will_ throw away your changes.


[DSR: I'm hesitant about including this command because you can trash stuff
with it. But at the same time, for people who are adapting to a commit not
also automatically being a send, it's nice for them to know how to undo one in
case they do something wrong. thoughts?]

git reset [--soft | --mixed | --hard] HEAD~1

*** WARNING *** Never, EVER do this to a commit that you have already pushed;
you will be rewriting history on other people's machines and this will
generally turn out very poorly.

With --soft, undoes the most recent 'git commit' action, but leaves the 
changes in the index and in the working directory.

With --mixed, does everything --soft does but also unstages the changes from
the index. If you don't specify one of the three, reset will assume this.

With --hard, does everything --mixed does but also reverts the working tree to
the prior commit. 

*** WARNING *** --hard will effectively delete a commit and "lose" the changes.


git fetch [-a]

Retrieve commits from the remote repository to your machine.
Including -a will get commits for all branches.


git pull

Incorporate any fetched commits for the current branch into your repository
and update your position accordingly.


git merge (branch) [--no-commit]

Merges all the changes from (branch) since it last diverged from a common
ancestor into your current branch.

With --no-commit, does not automatically create a merge entry in the log but
leaves all the merged files in your working directory; to complete the merge
you must commit them manually later (likely after you have edited them).