GIT - 1.2 Welcome to the course(2)

Throughout this course we will rely heavily on the command line, even though graphical clients and web interfaces also exist. The early lessons are deliberately focused on the terminal, and there are several reasons for that choice. Understanding why we start there sets the tone for everything that follows and helps you become an effective Git user across any environment.

Why the command line first

• Git was originally designed as a command-line tool, so the CLI has a long history and remains the canonical interface.
• New Git features land on the command line first and only later show up in graphical clients.
• Most online resources — blogs, tutorials, Stack Overflow answers — explain Git through CLI commands, so you will read and write them constantly when searching for solutions.
• The command line is the most powerful surface: graphical clients implement only the main commands and often hide advanced options.
• Git's CLI is cross-platform: the same commands work on Windows, macOS and Linux, with no platform-specific quirks to memorize.

Beyond these technical reasons, the command line is also having a popularity comeback thanks to modern development tools that put the terminal back at the center of the workflow. Becoming comfortable with the terminal is a real, transferable skill that pays off far beyond Git itself.

That said, once you understand how Git works under the hood, you are free to layer graphical tools on top. There are many excellent options, including very good IDE integrations built into editors like VS Code, IntelliJ or others. The recommended path is simple: learn Git through the command line first, then progressively add graphical tools as comfortable shortcuts — never as a replacement for understanding what is actually happening in your repository.