Git is one of the most widely adopted distributed version control systems in the world, known for transforming the way development teams collaborate and manage code. It brings versioning, branching, and collaboration tools into a single interface where software development actually gets done. Many IT, operations, and development teams use Git not just for tracking code changes, but for managing complex workflows and keeping project history organized.
What Is Git?
Git is a free, open-source distributed version control system designed to track changes in files—primarily source code—over time while enabling efficient collaboration among developers. Users create repositories to store project history, work on isolated branches for features or experiments, and synchronize changes via push/pull operations. Originally created by Linus Torvalds in 2005 for Linux kernel development, Git now supports everything from small personal projects to massive enterprise codebases. Its user base ranges from solo developers to global development teams at companies like Microsoft, Netflix, and Facebook that need to coordinate work across distributed teams while maintaining complete project history.
What is Git used for?
Git serves as the foundation for modern software development workflows and collaboration.
Common use cases for Git include:
- Source Code Management: Complete tracking of code changes with detailed commit history, enabling developers to understand project evolution and quickly identify when bugs were introduced.
- Collaborative Development: Multiple developers work simultaneously on different features without conflicts, using branching strategies to isolate work until ready for integration.
- Release Management: Tagged versions and release branches allow teams to maintain multiple software versions simultaneously while continuing active development.
- Code Review Processes: Pull requests and merge requests facilitate peer review before changes reach production, ensuring code quality and knowledge sharing.
- Backup and Recovery: Distributed nature means every developer has a complete project backup, with cryptographic integrity ensuring data cannot be corrupted without detection.
- Open Source Contribution: Forking and pull request workflows enable global collaboration on projects hosted on platforms like GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket.
- Documentation Control: Version tracking for project documentation, ensuring docs stay synchronized with code changes and providing audit trails for compliance.
Key Features of Git
Git's functionality centers on powerful distributed version control capabilities designed for speed and flexibility:
Distributed Architecture provides complete local repositories with full project history on every developer's machine, enabling offline work and eliminating single points of failure.
Branching and Merging offers lightweight, fast branch creation for parallel development, with intelligent merge strategies that handle conflicts and preserve project history.
Commit Management captures complete project snapshots with cryptographic hashing for data integrity, detailed commit messages, and tools like blame for tracking code authorship.
Performance and Speed optimizes for large repositories through local operations, delta compression, and efficient storage that handles projects from small scripts to million-line codebases.
Workflow Flexibility adapts to team preferences with support for centralized workflows, feature branching, GitFlow methodologies, and custom automation via hooks.
Data Integrity ensures tamper-evident history through Git's cryptographic hashing of all objects (SHA-1 by default, with optional SHA-256 in specially configured repositories), with built-in verification commands (such as git fsck) that detect corruption or malicious changes.
Integration Ecosystem connects with development tools, CI/CD pipelines, and hosting platforms like GitHub, providing seamless workflows from development to deployment.
Git Pros & Cons
Git offers powerful capabilities but requires investment in learning its advanced features.
Git Pros
- Distributed Model: Complete local history enables offline work, fast operations, and resilience against server failures while supporting flexible collaboration patterns.
- Cheap Branching: Lightweight branches encourage experimentation, parallel feature development, and clean project organization without performance penalties.
- Strong Community: Massive ecosystem with extensive documentation, tutorials, and tool integrations makes Git knowledge transferable across projects and organizations.
- Performance: Local operations like commits, diffs, and log queries execute instantly even on large repositories with extensive history.
- Data Safety: Cryptographic hashing and distributed backups protect against data loss while maintaining complete audit trails for compliance requirements.
Git Cons
- Learning Curve: Complex command sets and abstract concepts like staging areas, rebasing, and merge strategies can overwhelm beginners without proper training.
- Binary File Handling: Large binary files cause repository bloat and poor performance, requiring additional tools like Git LFS for media-heavy projects.
- Merge Conflicts: Complex merges still require manual resolution and understanding of project context, potentially blocking team progress.
- Chaos Potential: Distributed nature can lead to workflow confusion without proper branch protection, code reviews, and team conventions.
Git Pricing
Git itself is completely free and open-source software available for all operating systems. Core Git functionality includes unlimited repositories, full version control capabilities, and all collaboration features without licensing costs.
Note that while Git software is free, many teams choose hosted Git services like GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket for collaboration features, web interfaces, and integration capabilities.
Automate the Requests That Support Your Development Teams
Git serves as the foundation for modern development workflows, and Siit complements this by automating the operational processes that surround code development. While Git handles version control and code collaboration, Siit streamlines the internal service management that development teams rely on.
Here's how Siit enhances Git-based development environments:
- Smart Request Intake: Developers can request repository access, CI/CD pipeline setup, or development tool provisioning directly in Slack. Siit automatically routes these requests to the appropriate teams with full context.
- AI-Powered Environment Management: Siit's AI handles common development environment issues, provisions access to Git repositories and related tools, and provides instant answers about development policies and procedures.
- Automated Onboarding: When new developers join, Siit coordinates Git repository access, development tool setup, and team assignments across HR, IT, and engineering systems automatically.
- Cross-Team Coordination: Connect your HRIS, device management, and identity systems to automatically handle developer onboarding, access provisioning, and equipment requests that support Git-based workflows.
- Centralized Developer Support: While developers use Git for code management, internal teams manage all development-related service requests in Siit's dashboard, ensuring developers can focus on coding rather than administrative tasks.
Try It With Siit
Git handles your code—Siit handles everything else your development teams need to work efficiently. Streamline developer onboarding, tool requests, and IT support alongside your Git workflows.
Book a demo to see how Siit automates developer onboarding and IT support alongside your Git workflows.
Git Alternatives
Several version control systems offer different approaches to code management and collaboration:
Mercurial: Distributed version control with simpler command syntax and better handling of large repositories, though with smaller community adoption than Git.
Subversion (SVN): Centralized version control system offering simpler workflows for teams preferring linear development models without distributed complexity.
Perforce Helix Core: Commercial solution excelling with large binary files and enterprise-scale repositories, popular in game development and media industries.
Bazaar: Flexible version control supporting both centralized and distributed workflows, designed for ease of use but with limited current development.
Azure DevOps Services: Microsoft's integrated platform combining Git hosting with project management, CI/CD, and enterprise features for .NET-focused teams.
