Git workflow

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Even for a solo developer, Git is an invaluable tool for tracking changes, recovering from mistakes, and organizing your work. While you won’t use features meant for team collaboration, the core version control capabilities prevent the headaches of manual file backups and lost work. 

Core Git benefits for a solo developer

Preparation for the future: Even if a project is solo now, Git makes it easy to collaborate with others if you decide to open-source your work or invite contributors later on. 

Safety net for mistakes: Easily roll back to a previous, working version of your code if a new change breaks something. This is far better than manually saving multiple copies of your project folders.

Detailed history: Git creates a historical record of all your changes. This lets you see exactly what changes you made, when you made them, and why (if you write a good commit message), which is a great aid for debugging.

Freedom to experiment: Branches allow you to test new features or major changes in an isolated environment without affecting your stable, working code. If your experiment fails, you can abandon the branch and return to your stable version.

Recommended Git workflow for solo developers

A solo workflow can be simpler than a team’s, but it’s still good practice to maintain structure.

  1. Initialize your repository: From your project directory, run git init to start tracking your files.
  2. Make frequent commits: Save your work in logical, incremental chunks. A good rule of thumb is to commit every time you reach a “save point” where the code is working and represents a complete change.
  3. Write meaningful commit messages: A good commit message explains what and why you made a change, not just how. For example, “Fix: Corrected login validation” is better than “Updated login code”.
  4. Use branches for features and experiments:
    • Keep main stable: The main (or master) branch should always be a stable, working version of your project.
    • Create new branches: For any new feature, big change, or experiment, create a new branch with git switch -c <branch-name>.
    • Merge after completion: Once your feature is complete and stable, merge it back into main and then delete the feature branch.