What is the Git Repository (Directory) ?

About

This page is about the notion of repository and how it's implemented in Git.

The git repository is a subdirectory named .git called also GIT_DIR that contains all repository files.

It contains :

• commit log
• configuration,
• blob (file)
• tree (directory)
• reference (named commit)

When you are working in git on the local file system (file explorer,..), you are working in the working area/tree which is by default a checkout of the head (the last commit in the current branch).

Directory Layout / Subdirectories

A newly-initialized .git directory typically looks like:

config
description
HEAD
hooks/
info/
objects/
refs/

where:

• config are configuration
• description is a description text (used only by the GitWeb program)
• HEAD is the HEAD commit (ie the branch you currently have checked out)
• hooks stores hooks (extension script)
• info contains global exclusion
• objects stores all the database objects (commit, file, directory)
• refs stores the named commit (named hash)

Bare

A bare repository ¹⁾ is an empty repository that was created on a server to be able to receive their first push.

Creation

git init --bare

Management

Create

See Git - Getting Started

Location

• The default location is the first subdirectory of your project home (ie where you have run git init) called also the root of the working tree
• Otherwise you can set it:
  • as option via the –git-dir option of the git command line
  • or via the GIT_DIR environment variable.

Example to list the branches

git --git-dir .\subdirectory\.git branch

Private / Public

Strategy:

• use private submodule by adding /.gitmodules to gitignore and share it amongst developers via a back-channel.
• 2 different repositories where the relationship is build using symlinks (the ide should support it)

See also installing-projects-from-source

Sub-Project / Sub Repository

See Git - SubProject