Git
Git (/ɡɪt/) is a distributed version control system that tracks changes in any set of computer files, usually used for coordinating work among programmers who are collaboratively developing source code during software development. Its goals include speed, data integrity, and support for distributed, non-linear workflows (thousands of parallel branches running on different computers).
A command-line session showing repository creation, addition of a file, and remote synchronization | |
| Original author(s) | Linus Torvalds |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Junio Hamano and others |
| Initial release | 7 April 2005 |
| Stable release | |
| Repository | |
| Written in | Primarily in C, with GUI and programming scripts written in Shell script, Perl, Tcl and Python |
| Operating system | POSIX (Linux, macOS, Solaris, AIX), Windows |
| Available in | English |
| Type | Version control |
| License | GPL-2.0-only |
| Website | git-scm |
Git was originally authored by Linus Torvalds in 2005 for development of the Linux kernel, with other kernel developers contributing to its initial development. Since 2005, Junio Hamano has been the core maintainer. As with most other distributed version control systems, and unlike most client–server systems, every Git directory on every computer is a full-fledged repository with complete history and full version-tracking abilities, independent of network access or a central server. Git is free and open-source software shared under the GPL-2.0-only license.
Since its creation, Git has become the most popular distributed version control system, with nearly 95% of developers reporting it as their primary version control system as of 2022. There are many popular offerings of Git repository services, including GitHub, SourceForge, Bitbucket and GitLab.