You know who this is for.
Welcome to Computer Science. You are about to learn algorithms, data structures and exactly how much caffeine a human body can tolerate before seeing sounds.
But before you dive into Big O notation or figure out why your Java compiler hates you, you need to master the tool that separates the professionals from the people who cry in the library at 4 AM: Git.
I know. It sounds boring. It’s “version control.” It sounds like filing taxes.
But listen to me closely: Git is not a filing system. Git is a save-point in a video game where the boss fight is your deadline.
The Nightmare Scenario (That Will Happen)#
It’s 3:30 AM. You have a group project due at 8:00 AM.
You and your three teammates have been coding for 14 hours. The air in the room is 40% oxygen, 60% Red Bull vapor.
Your teammate—let’s call him “Kevin”—decides to “clean up” the code before submission. Kevin is tired. Kevin deletes a folder he thought was empty.
It wasn’t empty. It contained the logic you spent the last week writing.
Without Git:
You scream. You try to Ctrl+Z, but your IDE freezes and crashes. You frantically search your email for a file named project_v2_final_REAL_PLEASE_WORK.zip. It’s gone. You fail the assignment. You and Kevin are no longer on speaking terms.
With Git:
You sigh. You rub your eyes. You type:
git checkout main
And your code is back. Kevin is still an idiot, but you are safe.
The Folder of Shame#
If your desktop looks like this, you are doing it wrong:
/Assignment_1
/Assignment_1_backup
/Assignment_1_backup_fixed
/Assignment_1_FINAL
/Assignment_1_FINAL_FOR_REAL_THIS_TIME
/Assignment_1_v4_ACTUAL_SUBMISSION
This isn’t version control. This is a cry for help.
Why You Need This Now#
1. The “Hold My Beer” Button#
When you are coding, you will get a sudden, dangerous idea. “What if I rewrite this entire sorting algorithm to be recursive?”
Without Git, you are terrified to touch your working code. With Git, you create a branch.
Branching is like entering a parallel universe. You can destroy everything, set the codebase on fire and realize it was a terrible mistake.
Then you just switch back to main and it never happened. It gives you the confidence to code fearlessly.
2. Protection From Group Project Chaos#
University group projects are a social experiment designed to test your faith in humanity.
Someone will overwrite your file. Someone will push code that doesn’t compile. Someone will disappear for 3 days.
Git creates a paper trail. git blame literally lets you see who wrote the specific line of code that broke the app. It is incredibly satisfying to point at a line and say, “Kevin, this was you.”
3. It’s The Only Skill That Matters Day One#
Day-one disasters happen fast. New hire pushes code to the wrong branch. Panic. They don’t know how to undo it. Senior dev has to step in. By lunch, everyone knows they hired someone who doesn’t know Git. That’s a reputation you don’t recover from.
Using Git fluently—specifically from the command line—signals that you understand how software is actually built. It is the language of every dev team on the planet, from two-person startups to Google.
Your First Lesson#
Don’t use the GUI buttons in VS Code yet. Those buttons are for weaklings (and people who already know what they’re doing). Learn the magic spells.
Open your terminal. Feel the power.
# 1. "I want to start tracking this mess."
git init
# 2. "I want to save this file." (Stage it)
git add .
# 3. "Make it official." (Commit)
git commit -m "Fixed the bug. Created 3 new bugs."
# 4. "Yeet it to the cloud."
git push origin main
The Bottom Line#
You are going to write a lot of bugs in your degree. That is part of learning.
But losing work is not a bug. It’s a choice.
Learn Git this week. Make your mistakes, commit them and then revert them. Future-you will thank Present-you when you rescue your semester project from the brink of disaster with a single command.
Good luck. And for the love of code, commit early and commit often.
Image Credit: Featured image from Unsplash - Frustrated developer with coffee and laptop