**Course Title:** Mastering Development Environments **Section Title:** Version Control Systems **Topic:** Setting up Git: Installation, configuration, and basic commands. **Overview** In the previous topic, we introduced version control systems and their importance in software development. In this topic, we'll dive deeper into setting up Git, a popular version control system used by developers worldwide. By the end of this topic, you'll know how to install Git, configure it for your development environment, and use basic Git commands to manage your codebase. **Installing Git** Before you can start using Git, you need to install it on your computer. Here's a step-by-step guide to installing Git on various operating systems: * **Windows:** Download the Git installer from the official Git website ([https://git-scm.com/downloads](https://git-scm.com/downloads)). Follow the installation wizard to install Git on your Windows machine. * **Mac (using Homebrew):** If you have Homebrew installed on your Mac, you can install Git using the following command: `brew install git` * **Mac (using Git website):** Download the Git installer from the official Git website ([https://git-scm.com/downloads](https://git-scm.com/downloads)). Follow the installation wizard to install Git on your Mac machine. * **Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):** Use the following command to install Git: `sudo apt-get install git` * **Linux (Fedora/CentOS):** Use the following command to install Git: `sudo dnf install git` **Configuring Git** After installing Git, you need to configure it to use it with your development environment. Here's a step-by-step guide to configuring Git: 1. **Set your Git username:** Use the following command to set your Git username: `git config --global user.name "Your Name"` (Replace "Your Name" with your actual name) 2. **Set your Git email:** Use the following command to set your Git email: `git config --global user.email "your@example.com"` (Replace "your@example.com" with your actual email) 3. **Set your Git editor:** Use the following command to set your Git editor: `git config --global core.editor "code --wait"` (Replace "code" with your preferred editor) 4. **Verify your Git configuration:** Use the following command to verify your Git configuration: `git config --list` **Basic Git Commands** Here are some basic Git commands that you'll use frequently: 1. **git init:** Use this command to initialize a new Git repository: `git init` 2. **git add:** Use this command to stage changes to your files: `git add <file>` 3. **git status:** Use this command to view the status of your repository: `git status` 4. **git commit:** Use this command to commit changes to your files: `git commit -m "commit message"` 5. **git log:** Use this command to view the commit history: `git log` 6. **git branch:** Use this command to view the branches in your repository: `git branch` 7. **git merge:** Use this command to merge branches: `git merge <branch>` **Practical Exercise** Create a new folder for your project and initialize a new Git repository using the `git init` command. Then, create a new file called `README.md` and add it to the staging area using the `git add` command. Commit the changes using the `git commit` command. Finally, use the `git log` command to view the commit history. **Additional Resources** * Git Official Documentation: [https://git-scm.com/docs](https://git-scm.com/docs) * Git Tutorial by Codecademy: [https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-git](https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-git) **Next Steps** In the next topic, we'll cover working with Git repositories, including cloning, committing, branching, and merging. If you have any questions or need help with this topic, please leave a comment below. Now that you've learned how to set up Git, you're ready to move on to the next topic. Please proceed to the next topic: 'Working with Git repositories: cloning, committing, branching, and merging.'.