30-MINUTE WORKSHOP

Git Good Together

A hands-on Git workshop with real chaos, real fixes, and real exercises.

Beginner-Intermediate

30 Minutes

5 Sections

50 Total Marks

01 · 0:00 - 5:00 MIN

Why Does Git Even Exist?

Setting the stage with a painful story everyone recognises

Real Team Scenario

Meet the "DSP-backend" team: Ravi (dsp), Isha (dsp), Dhaval (QA), and Radhika (DevOps).

It's a Friday! Ravi sends final_api_v3_FINAL_USE_THIS.zip on Teams to Isha. Isha accidentally overwrites Ravi's API fix while editing the same file. Dhaval can't reproduce a bug because he doesn't know which version he's testing. Radhika is furious in the corner.

Git is the solution to this exact chaos. It's a version control system - like a magical "time machine + collaboration hub" for your code.

Ravi · Backend

Isha · Frontend

Dhaval · QA

Radhika · DevOps

💡

Core Concepts in 60 Seconds

Working Directory

→

Staging Area

→

Local Repo

→

Remote (GitHub)

Think of it as: Draft → Review Table → Your Bookshelf → Public Library

🔄

Create a New Repo from Command Line

Create a new repository on GitHub first (empty, no README), then run these commands locally:

# 1. Create project folder and enter it
mkdir git-good && cd git-good

# 2. Initialize Git repo
git init

# 3. Create README
echo "# Git Good" > README.md

# 4. Stage and commit
git add README.md
git commit -m "Initial commit"

# 5. Rename branch to main (if needed)
git branch -M main

# 6. Add remote and push
git remote add origin https://github.com/bkrajendra/git-good
git push -u origin main
        

Exercise 1 - Quick Fire Round

10 Marks

Q1 What problem does Git solve that sharing ZIP files via Slack cannot? Name at least 2 problems. 2 pts
Q2 In the Git flow Working Dir → Staging → Local Repo → Remote, which command moves code from Staging → Local Repo? 2 pts
Q3 True or False: Once you git commit, the code is automatically visible on GitHub to your teammates. 2 pts
Q4 Isha says "I'll just email code changes to avoid Git". Give Isha 2 solid reasons why Git is better for a team of 4+. 4 pts

02 · 5:00 - 12:00 MIN

The Daily Git Flow

Commands your team will use 90% of the time

Scenario: Monday Morning

Dev comes in, opens his laptop, and starts coding directly on main… without pulling the latest changes. Priya had pushed a big refactor on Friday. Dev's about to have a very bad time.

The Golden Rule: Always git pull before you start working.

📋

The Essential Daily Commands

# 1. Start your day - always pull first!
git pull origin main

# 2. Check what files you've changed
git status

# 3. See what actually changed line by line
git diff

# 4. Stage specific files (not everything blindly!)
git add src/login.js

# 5. Commit with a MEANINGFUL message
git commit -m "fix: validate email format on login form"

# 6. Push to remote
git push origin feature/login-fix
        

Common Issue: "My push was rejected!"

What happened: Sam pushed directly to main but got a rejection because Priya had also pushed in the meantime.

The Fix:

# Pull with rebase (cleaner history)
git pull --rebase origin main
# Resolve conflicts if any, then:
git push origin main
        

Pro tip: Set git config --global pull.rebase true so rebase is always the default.

Common Issue: "I committed to main by accident!"

What happened: Tanu committed a half-finished feature directly to main instead of a feature branch.

# Undo the last commit, keep your changes staged
git reset --soft HEAD~1

# Now switch to proper branch and recommit
git checkout -b feature/noors-fix
git commit -m "feat: add noor's new feature"
        

Never use git reset --hard unless you want to permanently discard changes!

Exercise 2 - Fill in the Command

10 Marks

Q1 Write the exact sequence of commands Dev should have used Monday morning before starting to code. 3 pts
Q2 What is the difference between git add . and git add src/login.js? When should you prefer each? 2 pts
Q3 Which commit message is GOOD? a) "fix stuff" b) "WIP" c) "fix: null pointer in user auth when email is empty" d) "changes" 2 pts
Q4 Noor accidentally committed to main. Write the 3-command sequence to undo and move the work to feature/noor-api. 3 pts

03 · 12:00 - 19:00 MIN

Branching - Your Team's Superpower

Work in parallel without stepping on each other

Scenario: Sprint Week

The Rocket team has 3 things to ship this week: Priya builds the OAuth login, Dev builds the dashboard redesign, and Sam writes the test suite.

If they all work on main - it'll be a disaster movie. With branches? Pure harmony.

🌿

Branch Naming Convention

# Feature work
feature/login-oauth
feature/dashboard-v2

# Bug fixes
fix/null-pointer-auth
fix/broken-csv-export

# Experiments / spikes
spike/react-18-upgrade

# Hotfixes on production
hotfix/payment-crash-prod
        

🔄

Full Branch Lifecycle

# 1. Always branch off latest main
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b feature/login-oauth

# 2. Work, stage, commit (repeat)
git add .
git commit -m "feat: add google oauth integration"

# 3. Push branch & open a Pull Request
git push origin feature/login-oauth

# 4. After PR is merged, clean up
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git branch -d feature/login-oauth
        

Common Issue: "My branch is 3 weeks old!"

Dev went on a deep coding tangent. His branch is now 47 commits behind main. Merging will be painful.

# Keep your branch fresh - rebase onto main regularly
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/main
# Fix any conflicts, then:
git push --force-with-lease
        

Rebase at least once a day on long-running branches. Your future self will thank you.

Exercise 3 - Scenario Mapping

10 Marks

Q1 Write correct branch names for: (a) Sam fixing CSV export bug, (b) Priya experimenting with caching, (c) Noor doing urgent production hotfix. 3 pts
Q2 Write all commands to: start a new branch feature/dark-mode from main, commit "feat: add dark mode toggle", and push it. 3 pts
Q3 Dev's branch is 3 days old. Should he git merge main or git rebase origin/main? Explain the difference. 2 pts
Q4 What is the risk of git push --force vs git push --force-with-lease? 2 pts

04 · 19:00 - 25:00 MIN

Merge Conflicts - Don't Panic

The most feared Git moment, demystified

The Conflict Scene

Priya and Dev both edited src/utils/auth.js line 42 at the same time. Priya's version checks for a null token. Dev's version adds a new JWT decoder.

When Dev pulls and merges - Git doesn't know whose version to keep. Git leaves breadcrumbs to help you decide.

🧩

What a Conflict Looks Like

// src/utils/auth.js - Git marks the conflict:

<<<<<<< HEAD  ← YOUR changes (Dev)
  const token = jwt.decode(req.headers.token);
=======   ← dividing line
  if (!req.headers.token) return null;
  const token = req.headers.token;
>>>>>>> origin/main  ← THEIR changes (Priya)
        

You need to manually edit this file to combine both intentions, then mark it resolved.

✅

Resolving the Conflict

# After manually fixing the conflict:
git add src/utils/auth.js
git commit -m "merge: combine jwt decode + null token check"
        

Use git mergetool or VS Code's built-in conflict editor for a visual way to resolve.

"I want to throw away MY changes and keep THEIRS"

# Keep incoming (their) version
git checkout --theirs src/utils/auth.js

# Keep your version
git checkout --ours src/utils/auth.js

git add src/utils/auth.js
git commit -m "resolve: use upstream auth logic"
        

"I want to completely undo a bad merge!"

# Find the commit hash before the merge
git log --oneline
# Reset to before the merge (SAFE - keeps your files)
git reset --merge ORIG_HEAD
        

Only do this BEFORE pushing. After pushing, use git revert instead - it's safer for shared branches.

Exercise 4 - Conflict Resolution

10 Marks

Q1 In a merge conflict block, what does HEAD represent and what does origin/main represent? 2 pts
Q2 Sam merges a conflict but forgets to git add the resolved file. What error will Git show? 2 pts
Q3 You got conflicts in 3 files after git merge feature/dark-mode. Write the step-by-step process to resolve. 3 pts
Q4 Why is git revert preferred over git reset --hard on shared branches? 3 pts

05 · 25:00 - 30:00 MIN

Team Best Practices

The unwritten rules that make great teams great

📜

The Confluxsys Team's Git Constitution

🚫

Never force-push to main or develop. It rewrites shared history and will ruin someone's day.

🚫

Avoid pushing binaries, blobs or large files. Make sure to maintain a .gitignore file.

✅

One thing per commit. Don't bundle a bug fix, refactor, and new feature together.

📝

Use Conventional Commits: feat:, fix:, docs:, chore:, refactor:, test:

🔍

Review PRs within 24 hours. Stale PRs become harder to merge over time.

🛡

Use branch protection on main. Require at least 1 reviewer. Run CI checks before merge.

🛡

Set you global username/email configuration along with git rebase

# Set global username and email git config --global user.name "Your Name" git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com" # set rebase behavior git config --global pull.rebase true

🕵
Power Commands You'll Love

# See who last changed each line (blame mode) git blame src/login.js # Search all commits for when a string was added git log -S "jwt.decode" --oneline # Stash half-done work before a context switch git stash push -m "WIP: oauth flow half done" git stash pop # bring it back # Cherry-pick a single commit onto another branch git cherry-pick a1b2c3d # See a visual branch graph git log --oneline --graph --all --decorate

"I accidentally pushed .env with secrets!"

Sam pushed a .env file with real API keys. This is a serious security incident.

# 1. Remove it from tracking immediately git rm --cached .env echo ".env" >> .gitignore git commit -m "security: remove .env from tracking" git push # 2. Rotate ALL exposed secrets IMMEDIATELY # 3. Use git-filter-repo to purge from history if needed

Set up secret scanning in GitHub. Use pre-commit hooks to block .env pushes.

Exercise 5 - Team Scenarios

10 Marks

Q1 Classify with Conventional Commits: (a) "Added dark mode" (b) "Typo fix in readme" (c) "Updated test for auth" (d) "Remove unused imports" 2 pts

Q2 Noor is mid-feature and gets a critical bug to fix. What command helps pause work safely? Write the commands. 2 pts

Q3 Dev needs a one-line fix from Sam's unmerged branch NOW. What command would Dev use? 2 pts

Q4 Priya pushed .env with DB credentials. Write the action plan: Git steps AND security actions. 4 pts

Workshop Scorecard

5 sections · 5 exercises · 30 minutes

50 Marks

0-24

Git Confused
Review fundamentals

25-34

Git Going
Solid foundation

35-44

Git Good
Team-ready

45-50

Git Wizard
Teach others!

Marks Breakdown

Exercise 1 - Why Git Exists10 marks

Exercise 2 - Daily Git Flow10 marks

Exercise 3 - Branching Superpower10 marks

Exercise 4 - Merge Conflicts10 marks

Exercise 5 - Team Best Practices10 marks

Thank You!

Now go forth and Git Good together.

git commit -m "chore: become a git master"

Lets Git Good Together

Git Good Together

Why Does Git Even Exist?

The Daily Git Flow

Branching - Your Team's Superpower

Merge Conflicts - Don't Panic

Team Best Practices

Workshop Scorecard

Marks Breakdown

Thank You!

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