Web developers usually work on local websites by making changes and tweaks and then uploading everything when they are done. But when there is more than one developer working on a large project, this option is not that simple or feasible. In this case developers need to use what is called version control. Version control software allows you to see different versions of the project and to track down the changes made. You can easily undo some changes if you are not satisfied with the result.
What is GIT?
GIT is a version control system that allows more than one person to work on the same project without affecting each other. GIT saves all the changes and the different versions created by several developers. These changes will be saved on one central server. Individual developers will be able to checkout and upload changes to this server. This is very useful because each change can be attributed to the specific developer who created it. GIT allows users to see the entire change history where each developer always has a complete copy of everything. If for any reason the central server is down, all the data can be restored from any of the clients who have the latest versions.
Why should web developers use GIT?
Distributed model: Your work is your own. You don’t have to share everything in public. GIT allows you to share with others only what is necessary and you can also work offline. GIT uses the concept of a complete repository where you can save and edit all the changes even when you have no access to a remote repository. Later on when you have online access you can update and synchronize all the changes. Moreover, you can enjoy the speed since everything is almost local.
Test changes: GIT allows developers to treat their working directory as a sandbox where they test and try different things. If they work they can fully commit them but if they don’t they can easily check out the files again from the last commit and everything will be restored to normal without affecting the entire project. You will always have the option to branch, commit or totally discard your changes.
Branching and merging are easy: If you need to work on new experimental features without interfering with the main code of the project then GIT will be very useful. Branching feels like a natural part of the work flow and it is super easy. Branching is fast and consumes little time and space. GIT allows you to branch whenever you want to. Branching allows different developers to work on different parts of the project and once all their features are ready they can easily merge all the branches together into one.
Pull requests: A pull request is when you ask another developer to have one of your branches merged into their repository. Pull requests are made super easy with GIT. This enables project leads to keep track of changes and allows developers to initiate discussions about work changes before integrating them with the rest of the code base. Pull requests allow a developer who is having a problem to ask for help from other developers on the team. It also ensures junior developers that they are not ruining the entire project.
Workflow is flexible: GIT allows you to choose the workflow that suits you. It can be simply a centralized workflow or you can choose to a hierarchical workflow. It is up to you as a developer to choose what works better for you.
Creates community: If your team is already using GIT, then training new hires on your workflow will not be necessary, because they will be already familiar with the distributed development. GIT is also very popular with open source projects. This means that it is super easy to leverage 3rd party libraries.
Data integrity is assured: Data is always safe when you use GIT and data corruption due to external reasons can be easily detected when you use GIT.
Fast: GIT is very fast and allows you to work quickly on local and network operations. Because of easy branching, distributed development, stable community and the existence of pull requests, there will be a faster release cycle. Developers are encouraged to share the smallest changes more frequently.
GIT is the perfect software to use in continuous delivery environments and makes the workflow so much smoother and easier for everybody working on the team where they can all share and work at their own paces.