How does 'git add' differ from 'git commit'?

The git add and git commit commands serve different purposes in the Git version control system. Here’s a breakdown of their differences:

git add

1. Purpose:

   • The git add command is used to stage changes in your working directory. It prepares specific files or changes to be included in the next commit.

2. Functionality:

   • It can stage new files, modified files, or even deletions.
   • You can selectively stage changes, allowing you to choose which modifications to include in the next commit.

3. Effect:

   • Running git add does not create a new commit; it simply marks changes to be included in the next commit.

4. Usage:

   • Example to stage a specific file:

     git add file-name

   • Example to stage all changes:

     git add .

git commit

1. Purpose:

   • The git commit command is used to create a new commit in the repository. It records the staged changes along with a commit message describing those changes.

2. Functionality:

   • It takes all the changes that have been staged (using git add) and saves them as a new snapshot in the repository's history.

3. Effect:

   • Running git commit creates a new commit with a unique identifier (hash) and adds it to the commit history. This action cannot be undone without additional commands (like git revert or git reset).

4. Usage:

   • Example to create a commit with a message:

     git commit -m "Your commit message here"

Summary

• git add: Stages changes for the next commit; does not create a commit.
• git commit: Creates a new commit from the staged changes; records the changes in the repository's history.

In practice, you typically use git add to stage your changes and then git commit to save those changes to the repository.