RE: What is the purpose of Git push and how does it work?

I know that 'git push' is used to upload local repository content to a remote repository, but can someone provide a more detailed explanation of how 'git push' works and its significance?

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`git push` is indeed a command used in Git, which is a version control system that developers use to collaborate on software projects. The command comes to play after you've made changes to your local development environment and you're ready to share that work with your team or simply save a backup/version of it remotely. Let's delve a bit more into how it works. When you issue the `git push` command, what Git does is take any commit(s) you made on your local repository that do not exist yet on the remote repository and pushes them to the remote repository so that they exist in both places. In essence, `git push` updates the remote repository with your latest commits. Here's a step-by-step flow on how it typically works: 1. You make changes to your files in your local repository. 2. You use `git add` to stage these changes, meaning you prepare them for a commit. 3. You use `git commit` to create a new commit, which is a snapshot of your changes at that point in time. This commit is only in your local repository at this stage. 4. You use `git push` to push this new commit to the remote repository. 5. If you're working with others, they can now use `git pull` to retrieve the changes you've made and have them in their local repository. As for its significance, `git push`: - Allows for collaboration: It allows multiple developers to work on the same project. Everyone can work separately on their local repositories, make commits, and then push their changes to the remote. Other developers can then pull these changes and integrate them into their own local repos. - Provides a backup: If something happens to your local machine and you lose your work, anything you've committed and pushed is safely stored remotely. - Historical Record: Each commit represents a snapshot of your project at a particular point in time. By pushing these snapshots to a remote repository, you're maintaining a history of your project that other developers can follow. This can be beneficial for debugging and understanding how the project has changed over time. Remember, it's always best practice to sync your local repository with the remote repository before pushing any changes. This can be done using `git pull` or `git fetch` and `git merge`. This ensures that you are aware of any changes your teammates have made and can resolve any potential conflicts in the codebase before pushing your own changes.
Answered on August 24, 2023.
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