Pro Git [Paperback]

Chacon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 27, 2009 | ISBN-10: 1430218339 | ISBN-13: 978-1430218333 | Edition: XXII, 265 p.

Developers need to keep their code from unintended changes. Pro Git is the version control book for all open source developers and quite a few commercial ones, regardless of whether they are hobbyists or professionals. Developed by Linus Torvalds himself, it has taken the open source world by storm and is set to become the standard for open source development.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mario Danic: Through the last couple of years, Mario has been leading and contributing to various FOSS projects. Mario has been a mentor and developer during the Google Summer of Code for 3 years running while still a high school student and again as a university student in 2007. He has had the privilege of working with leading FOSS developers and contributors around the world which taught him how to come up with creative solutions to a vast range of problems. His activities are often closely tied to community, as they are in lots of cases the driving force behind most FOSS projects.

For Mario, people are the key of every effort while technology only exists to help them communicate and collaborate.

Patrick Aljord: I've been developing all kinds of FOSS applications for the last 5 years as a hobby while I was a student. I have also been using FOSS software professionally for two years. As a developer, I enjoy working on FOSS projects and collaborating with people. The reason I like using Git is that it enhances my developer experience.

As most developers of my generation, I started using Subversion to collaborate with other people on FOSS projects as it was the most popular tool. Since 2007, I started to work professionally and I had to use Subversion everyday which showed me its limitations. That's when I stumbled upon the Linus Torvalds presentation on Git.

I started to develop an interest in Gitorious, a Git web interface, and decided with Mario to port the application so that KDE project can make use of it. The project is still in its infancy as of now.

Product Details

• Paperback: 265 pages
• Publisher: Apress; XXII, 265 p. edition (August 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1430218339
• ISBN-13: 978-1430218333
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Software Engineering > Design Tools & Techniques
  • #15 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Software Design, Testing & Engineering > Software Development
  • #45 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best visual explanations of git concepts and methodology, September 22, 2009

By 

M.S. "mtin" (Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pro Git (Paperback)

i read through all the other git books to this date and i came to the conclusion that this is the best as far as visual explanations of the git concepts and methodology is concerned. my colleagues had the same "aha" experience as i after reading through this book, as we were all suffering from a not so clear picture of how git actually branches, merges and treats remote repositories.
i can highly recommend it!

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, January 5, 2010

By 

Andrei Mouravski - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pro Git (Paperback)

I began reading Pro Git, by Scott Chacon, after having already used Git in a
large team-based project. Due to this, I was afraid I would get bored of the
book very easily since I had already learned a decent amount of the material.
This was most assuredly not the case. Chacon has done an excellent job in
writing a book that serves as an excellent beginners guide and a quick reference
at the same time.

The first part of the book is devoted to looking at multiple version control
systems along with a history of version control. Chacon also makes it very
easy to set Git up in a number of environments so that you can get started right
away. The first half of the book is dedicated towards basics of the
system, advanced features, such as rebasing, and setting up a remote server for
git. The next half of the book contains a wealth of knowledge regarding best
practices when using Git, additional tools and configuration options, and
finally, nitty-gritty details on how Git works under the hood.

My biggest complaint would have to be the fact that the material on using Git
remotely is scattered in a couple different parts of the book. This makes it
slightly difficult to find specific information regarding remote work.

Overall, Chacon did an excellent job with Pro Git. After reading this book I
was able to easily fill in the holes in my knowledge and felt significantly more
comfortable maintaining a Git system for personal and team projects.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent companion to Git, September 21, 2009

By 

J. P. Mens (Germany, Europe) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pro Git (Paperback)

Scott Chacon is one of the guys behind github -- a hosting site for projects managed by Git distributed version control system. As such, Scott is extremely competent in all things Git, and he wrote a book (or should I say the book) on Git. The book is called Pro Git. I've been using Git for some time now, so I couldn't wait to get my hands on a printed copy of the book. (I'm old-fashioned that way -- I prefer reading paper books.)

Pro Git is published by Apress. On 250 odd pages, Scott manages to bring Git across in a very vivid way. Lots of sample sessions and a huge number of figures make Git come alive and fun to use! (Only at one point while reading the book, did I think: "why is he telling me that?", but it can't have been too bad, because upon writing this, I can't find the place.)

Pro Git starts off easily enough, but it does so at a fast pace, for which I was grateful: you get past the basics on page 45, which means the book gets you set up quickly, so that you can start taking Git for a spin.

Chapter 3 is called "Git Branching", and the thirty pages explain all you ever wanted to know (as well as all you never wanted to know ) about branching. This part is hardcore, but Scott explains this with lots of diagrams, making it easier for us to follow.

One of the best chapters in the book, for me, is called "Git on the server". Scott explains the different methods of setting up Git so as to be able to collaborate.

If you use Git or intend to (and I'd certainly recommend you look at it), I very warmly recommend Scott Chacon's Pro Git: it's the best companion you'll have for Git.