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Basic Git Understanding

What is Git and why is it important?​

Git is a version control system that is used to manage software development projects and track changes to code. It provides a centralized repository for storing and managing code, allowing multiple developers to collaborate on the same codebase. With Git, developers can easily track changes to code over time, revert to previous versions of code, compare changes, and merge code from multiple sources.

Git is an important tool for code maintenance as it provides a way to track changes to code and manage code repositories in a collaborative and efficient manner. The following are some of the reasons why Git is important for code maintenance:

  • Version control: Git provides a robust version control system that allows developers to keep track of code changes over time. Developers can easily revert to previous versions of code, compare changes, and merge code from multiple sources, making it easier to manage and maintain code.
  • Collaboration: Git provides a way for teams of developers to collaborate on code, allowing multiple people to work on the same codebase simultaneously. Git also provides tools for code review and merging, making it easier for teams to work together effectively.
  • Branching and merging: Git provides a flexible branching and merging model that allows developers to create separate branches for different features, bug fixes, or experimental changes. This makes it easier to test and integrate new changes into the codebase, reducing the risk of breaking existing functionality.
  • History tracking: Git maintains a complete history of all changes to the code, including who made the changes, when they were made, and why they were made. This provides valuable context for understanding code changes and helps developers make informed decisions about how to maintain and improve code.
  • Backup and disaster recovery: Git provides a way to store code in a centralized repository, allowing developers to easily back up code and recover from data loss or corruption.

All of this seems to be useful for developers only right? Why would we as QA need this sort of knowledge? We need this information to set us apart from regular testers. We need to be able to access the code database, and be able to switch branches to verify changes on our local machine in order to test stuff out as it's being implemented, thus giving the “on hands testing” approach an even new meaning.