Need help with Git on Windows

Hi all.

I have used Mercurial a little in the past but now I would like to try Git.
The problem is that I can’t figure out how to use it. I don’t have much time for this now so
I would just like to get a very simple version handling system localy on my computer. I want to be able
to see history and go back to a previous version etc.
I downloaded this:

https://windows.github.com/

But I don’t understand how to update my files to previos versions or see a tree over the history.
So my question is: how to run Git on windows in the best (simpliest) way?

I have found tutorials on how to run git with a command line but as I don’t have much time at the moment I would just like to have a clean and simple GUI.

Thanks in advance!

Hey there @Ikaruz ,

Learning Git can be intimidating for sure and I think starting with a good UI that helps develop the understanding and terminology is a quick way to get up to speed. If the GitHub Windows UI doesn’t make sense to you, I’d recommend trying out one of these other ones.

Given what you’ve described, I’d recommend SourceTree because:

  • It works for both Mercurial and Git
  • It works for both Mac and Windows
  • I’ve used it a bit and seen others use it and it’s pretty sweet, it’s easy to review history, etc.
  • It focusses on the Git aspect over the GitHub aspect of source control

Beyond this, another important aspect of learning Git, is knowing the core commands and concepts.
Two commands I’d recommend reading up on are:

  • git checkout: This command does more than you think, you use this to revert uncommited code, go back to previous versions, check out branches. etc.

  • git pull = git fetch + git merge

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If I use a git GUI on Windows, it’s usually TortoiseGit. I particularly like the Windows Explorer integration so a lot of tasks are available by right-clicking on a file or directory.

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Pro Git by Scott Chacon is your friend.

Available in a dead-tree version too, for easy reference.

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Thank you for the good and fast answers!

I will take a look at the different softwares and try which one that’s suits me.

Regards

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