Git in a nutshell

So, what is Git in a nutshell? This is an important section to absorb, because if you understand what Git is and the fundamentals of how it works, then using Git effectively will probably be much easier for you. As you learn Git, try to clear your mind of the things you may know about other VCSs, such as CVS, Subversion or Perforce — doing so will help you avoid subtle confusion when using the tool. Even though Git’s user interface is fairly similar to these other VCSs, Git stores and thinks about information in a very different way, and understanding these differences will help you avoid becoming confused while using it. Snapshots, Not Differences The major difference between Git and any other VCS (Subversion and friends included) is the way Git thinks about its data. Conceptually, most other systems store information as a list of file-based changes. These other systems (CVS, Subversion, Perforce, and so on) think of the information they store as a set of files and the changes made to each file over time (this is commonly described as delta-based version control).