Git & GitHub - Temporary Commits & Rewriting History
A beginners guide to git reflog and git stash
Table of contents
Temporarily Commits
When working with Git, it is sometimes useful to temporarily store your modified, tracked files so that you can change branches without losing your changes. This can be done using the git stash command.
The git stash command will create a snapshot of your working directory and staging area, and then remove all of the tracked files from your working directory. This means that you can freely switch branches without worrying about losing your changes.
To use git stash, you would use the following command:
git stash
To restore your stashed changes, you would use the following command:
git stash pop
You can also list all of your stashed changes using the following command:
git stash list
To discard the changes from the top of the stash stack use the following command:
git stash drop
Sure, here is a blog post on temporarily storing modified, tracked files to change branches, rewrite branches, update commits, and clear history:
Temporarily storing modified, tracked files to change branches
When working with Git, it is sometimes useful to temporarily store your modified, tracked files so that you can change branches without losing your changes. This can be done using the git stash command.
The git stash command will create a snapshot of your working directory and staging area, and then remove all of the tracked files from your working directory. This means that you can freely switch branches without worrying about losing your changes.
To use git stash, you would use the following command:
git stash
To restore your stashed changes, you would use the following command:
git stash pop
You can also list all of your stashed changes using the following command:
git stash list
Rewriting branches
Sometimes, you may need to rewrite a branch. This can be useful if you have made a mistake, or if you want to start over from a clean slate.
To rewrite a branch, you can use the git reflog command to find the commit that you want to start from. Then, you can use the git checkout command to checkout that commit.
Once you have checked out the commit, you can make your changes and then commit them.
Updating commits
Sometimes, you may need to update a commit. This can be useful if you have made a mistake, or if you want to add more information to the commit message.
To update a commit, you can use the git commit --amend command. This will open up the commit message editor so that you can make your changes.
Once you have made your changes, you can save the commit message and then press Enter. Git will then update the commit and create a new one.
Clearing history
Sometimes, you may need to clear the history of a branch. This can be useful if you want to start over from a clean slate, or if you want to remove sensitive information from the history.
To clear the history of a branch, you can use the git reset --hard command. This will reset the branch to the specified commit, and it will also remove all of the commits that were made after that commit.
By following the steps outlined in this blog post, you can easily temporarily store modified, tracked files, rewrite branches, update commits, and clear history in Git. This will help you to keep your repository organized and manageable. If you have any queries, do write them in the comments below and follow me for more such content.