Leanpub Header

Skip to main content
Go to Leanpub.com

Git Mastery: From First Commit to Expert

The Complete Practical Guide — Fundamentals, Workflows, Internals, and Real-World Problem Solving

Git Mastery: From First Commit to Expert
This book is 100% completeLast updated on 2026-10-01
Steve Publications

Stop memorizing Git commands and learn how Git actually works. Git Mastery: From First Commit to Expert covers everything from version control basics to advanced workflows, debugging and Git internals with practical examples that help you collaborate with confidence and solve Git problems on your own.

Minimum price

$19.00

$29.00

You pay

Author earns

$

Also available for 1 book credit with a Reader Membership

PDF
EPUB
WEB
APP
107
Pages
About

About

About the Book

This book takes you from your very first `git init` to the deepest corners of Git's internals. You will learn not just what commands to run, but why they work the way they do. Through practical scenarios, step-by-step examples, hands-on exercises with solutions, and real-world troubleshooting, you will develop the deep understanding that separates a confident developer from one who is always Googling error messages. Whether you are preparing for technical interviews, managing a team's workflow, or simply tired of losing work to `git reset --hard`, this guide gives you the tools and mental model to master Git once and for all.

Share this book

Categories

GitSoftware Engineering

Feedback

Contact the author

Bundle

Bundles that include this book

Author

About the Author

Steve Publications

Steve is a technology professional with over 20 years of experience in software development, server infrastructure, cybersecurity, vulnerability research and reverse engineering. He specializes in analyzing complex systems, identifying weaknesses and improving security.

Beyond his professional work, Steve collaborates with researchers and industry experts to create practical technical books covering software development, cybersecurity, cloud computing, DevOps, AI and enterprise technologies. His goal is to help IT professionals, students and enthusiasts develop practical skills through clear explanations, real-world examples and hands-on exercises.

At Steve Publications, we use AI to assist with translation, proofreading and editing but not to replace the research, technical expertise or hands-on experience behind our books. Some authors publish under pseudonyms for privacy or professional reasons.

Every book is written, reviewed and maintained by experienced professionals, supported by a private community of over 420 engineers and researchers. We prioritize technical accuracy, practical value and regularly updated content over mass-produced AI-generated text.

We welcome experienced professionals interested in writing or reviewing books, especially in specialized and emerging technology fields. If you'd like to contribute, contact us with your area of expertise.

We stand behind our work. If a book doesn't meet your expectations, Leanpub offers a 60-day money-back guarantee.

Contents

Table of Contents

The Complete Practical Guide: Fundamentals, Workflows, Internals and Real-World Problem Solving

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Git Mental Model

  1. The Version Control Landscape
  2. The Directed Acyclic Graph
  3. The Three-Tree Model
  4. Object Types: Blob, Tree, Commit, Tag
  5. References: Branches, Tags and HEAD

Chapter 2: Installation and Configuration

  1. Installing Git
  2. The Config Layers: System, Global, Local
  3. Identity and Email
  4. Authentication: SSH vs HTTPS
  5. Essential Settings

Chapter 3: Your First Repository

  1. Initializing a Repository
  2. The Add/Commit Cycle
  3. Viewing History
  4. Undoing Mistakes
  5. Hands-On Exercise: Build a Tiny Project

Chapter 4: Commits and History Management

  1. Commit Anatomy
  2. Amending and Rewriting
  3. Interactive Rebase Deep Dive
  4. Cherry-Pick: Applying Individual Commits
  5. Commit Messages That Matter
  6. Hands-On Exercise: Amend and Rewrite a Commit

Chapter 5: Branching and Merging

  1. Creating and Switching Branches
  2. Merge Strategies: Fast-Forward vs Recursive vs Octopus
  3. Merge Conflicts: What Causes Them and How to Resolve
  4. Three-Way Merge Explained
  5. Hands-On Exercise: Simulate a Real Merge Conflict

Chapter 6: Rebasing and Linear History

  1. Why Rebase? Clean History vs Merge Commits
  2. Interactive Rebase in Practice
  3. Rebase Conflicts: How They Differ from Merge Conflicts
  4. Walkthrough: Resolving a Rebase Conflict Step by Step
  5. Hands-On Exercise: Clean Up a Messy History
  6. The Great Debate: Rebase vs Merge
  7. Hands-On Exercise: Rebase a Feature Branch

Chapter 7: Remotes and Collaboration

  1. Remote Mechanics: Fetch, Pull, Push
  2. Tracking Branches and Upstream/Downstream
  3. The Push/Pull Cycle
  4. Force Push Dangers
  5. Pull Requests and Code Review
  6. Hands-On Exercise: Fork, Clone, Branch, Commit, Push and PR

Chapter 8: Advanced Branching Workflows

  1. Git Flow: The Classic Model
  2. Trunk-Based Development: The Modern Approach
  3. Feature Flags and Deployment
  4. Monorepos: Managing Multiple Projects in One Repo
  5. Choosing a Strategy

Chapter 9: Stashing, Tagging and Cleanup

  1. Stash Mechanics: Saving Changes Without Committing
  2. Patch Stashes: Stashing Selective Changes
  3. Tags: Lightweight vs Annotated
  4. Cleanup Commands
  5. Hands-On Exercise: Stash, Work on Another Branch, Apply

Chapter 10: Git Hooks and Automation

  1. Hook Types: Pre-Commit, Pre-Push, Commit-Message
  2. Writing Your First Hook
  3. Hook Templates: Sharing Hooks Across Repos
  4. CI/CD Integration
  5. Hands-On Exercise: Create a Pre-Commit Hook

Chapter 11: Submodules and Worktrees

  1. Submodule Mechanics: Add, Update, Clone
  2. Common Submodule Pitfalls
  3. Git Worktrees: The Modern Alternative
  4. When to Use Which
  5. Hands-On Exercise: Set Up a Repo with a Submodule and a Worktree

Chapter 12: Git Internals

  1. The Object Store: Blob, Tree, Commit, Tag in .git/objects
  2. SHA-1 and Content Addressing
  3. Packfiles and Compression
  4. The Reflog: Where Deleted Branches Go
  5. How git log Works Under the Hood
  6. Hands-On Exercise: Explore the Object Store with git cat-file

Chapter 13: Performance and Scale

  1. Large Repositories: What “Large” Means and Common Bottlenecks
  2. Shallow Clones: --depth and Trade-Offs
  3. Sparse Checkout: Checking Out Only What You Need
  4. Partial Clones: Skipping Large Blobs
  5. Bisection for Debugging: Finding Regressions Fast
  6. Performance Tuning: git config Options
  7. Hands-On Exercise: Use git bisect to Find a Regression

Chapter 14: Security and Best Practices

  1. Signed Commits: GPG and SSH Signing
  2. Secrets in History: Removal and Prevention
  3. Audit Trails and Compliance
  4. Security Scanning: Pre-Commit and CI Integration
  5. Hands-On Exercise: Remove a Committed Secret

Chapter 15: Troubleshooting and Recovery

  1. Lost Commits: The Reflog as Your Safety Net
  2. Corrupted Repositories: git fsck and Repair
  3. Common Error Patterns: Causes and Fixes
  4. Recovery Scenarios: Step-by-Step Procedures
  5. Hands-On Exercise: Simulate a Corrupted Repo and Recover

Conclusion: The Expert’s Mindset

References

Get the free sample chapters

Click the buttons to get the free sample in PDF or EPUB, or read the sample online here

Download Sample PDFDownload Sample EPUB

The Leanpub 60 Day 100% Happiness Guarantee

Within 60 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.

See full terms...

Earn $8 on a $10 Purchase, and $16 on a $20 Purchase

We pay 80% royalties on purchases of $7.99 or more, and 80% royalties minus a 50 cent flat fee on purchases between $0.99 and $7.98. You earn $8 on a $10 sale, and $16 on a $20 sale. So, if we sell 5000 non-refunded copies of your book for $20, you'll earn $80,000.

(Yes, some authors have already earned much more than that on Leanpub.)

Learn more about writing on Leanpub

Free Updates. DRM Free.

If you buy a Leanpub book, you get free updates for as long as the author updates the book! Many authors use Leanpub to publish their books in-progress, while they are writing them. All readers get free updates, regardless of when they bought the book or how much they paid (including free).

Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers) and EPUB (for phones, tablets and Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.

Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.

Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them

Write and Publish on Leanpub

You can use Leanpub to easily write, publish and sell in-progress and completed ebooks and online courses!

Leanpub is a powerful platform for serious authors, combining a simple, elegant writing and publishing workflow with a store focused on selling in-progress ebooks.

Leanpub is a magical typewriter for authors: just write in plain text, and to publish your ebook, just click a button. (Or, if you are producing your ebook your own way, you can even upload your own PDF and/or EPUB files and then publish with one click!) It really is that easy.

Learn more about writing on Leanpub