Git Resources for Visual Learners

Many developers learned Git basics, mastered a sequence of commands, and use Git daily, but they still get uncomfortable when required to go beyond basic committing, branching, and merging.

If you feel like you never really quite understand what’s happening underneath the hood or find it hard to convey Git concepts to others, then learning Git visually may provide just the foundation you need.

Start with a few videos

Git For Ages 4 And Up — A talk from Linux.conf.au by Michael Schwern. It's a little long, but definitely worth giving up a few lunch hours for.

Introduction to Git — A video by Scott Chacon explaining visually what is happening when you make and commit changes.

Learn Git — The folks from Tower provide a pretty nice base of free fundamental videos that are ideal for beginners.

Try some interactive tools

Visualizing Git Concepts with D3 — A graphic tool that actually changes as you type various Git commands. The nodes move and dim[ as you type things like git merge dev or git rebase master. This is a fantastic resource for understanding the basics.

Learn Git Branching — An interactive tutorial that walks you from the basics to advanced topics with graphics at each level.

Try Github — A quick interactive introduction to git & Github powered by Codeschool

Add to what you've learned with a few articles & tutorials

The Git Parable — A story, rather than commands, to help you visualize what is happening with git using examples in plain english.

Ry’s Git Tutorial — A complete introduction from the ground up.

Become a Git guru — Atlassin provides a series of tutorials to learn Git. There aren’t quite as many graphics for the visual learner but the basic concepts are broken down in an easily digestible size.

Git for Computer Scientists — Definitely for those with a technical background but it provides several graphic examples of Git basics.

Git Beginners Guide — Core concepts for complete beginners

List of resources to learn more — Extensive list of resources for learning more.

Share what you know

Which Git resources have provided you the best foundation? Ping us and let us know about it.