Learning Git and Terminal Commands

This repository is my personal practice space for learning Git, GitHub, and useful beginner terminal commands.

The aim is not to build a production project. The aim is to practise the basic developer workflow in a safe place, make mistakes, fix them, and get comfortable using Git, GitHub, Cursor, and the command line.

What this repo is for

I am using this repo to practise:

• Initialising a Git repository with git init
• Cloning an existing GitHub repository with git clone
• Creating and switching branches
• Making changes to files
• Staging changes with git add
• Saving changes with git commit
• Viewing history with git log
• Pushing branches to GitHub
• Creating pull requests
• Merging changes into main
• Tidying up branches after a pull request is merged
• Using .gitignore to avoid committing unwanted files
• Building confidence with everyday terminal commands

Current focus

Right now, I am focusing on two areas:

1. Learning the basic Git and GitHub workflow
2. Learning useful terminal commands for coding and local development

Files in this repo

File	Purpose
README.md	Explains what this practice repo is for
git-basics-practice-guide.md	A beginner guide to Git commands and GitHub workflow
beginner-terminal-commands.md	A beginner guide to useful terminal commands for coding

Git commands I am practising

bash git clone git init git status git add . git commit -m "Describe the change" git log git log --oneline git checkout main git checkout -b branch-name git branch git branch -d branch-name git remote -v git remote add origin repo-url git push -u origin branch-name git pull origin main git fetch

Terminal commands I am practising

bash pwd ls cd mkdir touch cat echo cp mv rm clear open . code .

Practice workflow

A typical practice workflow in this repo is:

bash git checkout main git pull origin main git checkout -b my-new-branch

Then make a change to a file.

bash git status git add . git commit -m "Describe what changed" git push -u origin my-new-branch

Then open GitHub, create a pull request, review the change, and merge it into main.

After merging:

bash git checkout main git pull origin main git branch -d my-new-branch

Starting from an existing GitHub repo

If the repo already exists on GitHub, I can copy it onto my Mac with:

bash cd ~/LocalProjects git clone https://github.com/username/repo-name.git cd repo-name git status

This is different from git init.

Command	Use it when
git clone	The repo already exists on GitHub and I want a local copy
git init	I am starting a brand new repo from a folder on my Mac

Notes to self

• main should stay clean and up to date.
• New work should usually happen on a new branch.
• Commit messages should explain what changed.
• Pull requests are a GitHub feature, not a core Git command.
• Empty folders are not tracked by Git.
• .DS_Store is a macOS file and should be ignored.
• .gitignore tells Git which files not to track.
• git clone is for downloading an existing repo.
• git init is for starting a new repo locally.
• Terminal commands are powerful, so check where I am before creating, moving, or deleting files.
• pwd shows where I am.
• ls shows what is in the current folder.
• cd moves between folders.
• git status is the safest command to run when I am unsure what is going on.

Why I am doing this

I am learning Git and terminal basics properly so I can better understand developer workflows, work more confidently with code projects, and use tools like Cursor, GitHub, and the terminal without blindly relying on copy-pasted commands.

This repo is my safe place to practise that workflow repeatedly until it becomes second nature.