Staging in Git

Git, the staging area (also called the index) is an intermediate space where changes are gathered before they are committed. Think of it as a draft board: you can organize and review what changes you want to include in the next commit.

The staging area allows you to:

• Selectively choose changes to commit.
• Break down large changes into smaller, logical commits.
• Review your work before finalizing it in the repository.

• Working Directory: Contains your local files and changes (untracked or modified).
• git add: Moves selected changes from Working Directory to Staging Area for preparation.
• Staging Area: Holds files ready to be committed (also called index).
• git commit: Saves the staged changes as a snapshot to the Repository.
• Repository: Stores the full history of committed changes (local Git repo).

Basic Staging Commands

1. Staging All Changes

To stage all modified files in your working directory, use:

git add .

Alternatively, you can use:

git add -A

This adds all changes, including new, modified, and deleted files.

2. Staging Changes in a File

Let’s say we edit a.txt and run:

git status

• Changes appearing in green indicate the file is staged but not yet committed.
• Changes appearing in red are not staged yet.

Example:

• You write "hello" in a.txt and stage it using git add ..
• Then you add "bhailogs" but don’t stage it. Running git status shows "bhailogs" in red, indicating unstaged changes.

3. Unstage a File

To remove a file from the staging area, use:

git reset file_name

Example:

• You staged b.txt but now want to unstage it:

git reset b.txt

The file remains in your working directory but is removed from staging.

3. Staging Changes by Hunk

Sometimes you want to stage only parts of a file. Git allows hunk-level staging:

git add -p

This opens an interactive prompt for each hunk (block of changes) in the file:

This is useful when you want to commit only specific changes while leaving other changes unstaged.

4. Interactive Add

Git also provides an interactive staging interface:

git add -i

This interface breaks down the output into staged and unstaged changes. You can perform various actions:

• status: Shows the current state of files.
• update: Stage modified files.
• revert: Revert changes back to HEAD.
• add untracked: Stage untracked files.
• patch: Stage individual hunks interactively.
• diff: Shows changes to be committed.
• quit: Exit the interactive interface.
• help: Displays help for interactive commands.

Staging Specific Cases

1. Stage a Single File

git add file_name

Example:

git add b.txt

2. Stage Deleted Files

• To remove a file permanently from Git:

git rm -f file_name

To remove a file from Git without deleting it from disk:

git rm --cached file_name

Example:

• You create r.txt, stage it, and then remove it using --cached. The file is removed from staging but remains in your working directory as untracked. You can stage it again using:

git add r.txt

Suggested Quiz

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5 Questions

What is the primary purpose of the Staging Area in Git?

• A

  To store remote repository data
  

• B

  To permanently save snapshots of code

• C

  To prepare and review changes before committing

• D

  To delete untracked files

Explanation:

The staging area (index) is an intermediate zone where changes are gathered for review before committing them to the repository.

Which command stages all modified, new, and deleted files?

• A

  git add file_name
  

• B

  git add .

• C

  git add -A

• D

  git reset file_name

Explanation:

git add -A stages all changes (new, modified, deleted), while git add . stages new and modified files in current directory.

Which command is used to unstage a file without removing changes from working directory?

• A

  git rm file_name
  

• B

  git reset file_name

• C

  git revert file_name

• D

  git clean -f

Explanation:

git reset file_name removes file from staging area but keeps its modifications, allowing re-staging later.

Which command is used to stage changes interactively by selecting hunks?

• A

  git add -p
  

• B

  git add -i

• C

  git commit -p

• D

  git reset -p

Explanation:

git add -p lets users stage code hunk by hunk, helpful for partial commits.

What does git rm --cached file_name do?

• A

  Deletes file permanently from system
  

• B

  Removes file from staging and filesystem

• C

  Removes file from Git tracking but keeps it on disk

• D

  Stages file for commit

Explanation:

git rm --cached untracks and removes file from staging/index without deleting it locally, making it an untracked file.

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