Professional Git

I'm a CSCI instructor at a large community college and am belatedly trying to master Git. Up until know it's been a frustrating experiences. Most learning resources are of marginal quality, limited scope, incomplete and inconsistent. I've seen this problem many times in my career with new, emerging technology areas. Those that really understand it are out doing it, not explaining it. After yet another frustrating experience trying to reconcile conflicting explanations on different sites, I turned in desperation to Amazon to search for a good book. And found it! "Professional Git" is simply outstanding. Everything is explained extremely well. Introductory concepts and background is first presented in a step-by-step manner. This makes is so much easier to understand the more advanced concepts and application later. It's obvious that the author knows the topic very well including both the theory, application, current use, associated products, best practices etc. And he writes very well. Presents very logically and easy to understand. BUT BEST OF ALL HE HAS LOTS OF PICTURES! To me, this is the hallmark of any great presentation of technology, whether in print or video format. Pictures are critical in understanding these complex concepts. See attached photo as an example. So do you want to learn Git? This is the book to git. One piece of advice. If you get the Kindle, use the Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader vs the Windows app. The cloud reader makes it easier to see the graphics.

By far the best book for learning Git. The author has an uncanny knack for writing in a style that is technical, while also being easy to understand. Git is complicated, and this book simplifies it immensely.

The book is a bit wordy (that feedback was provided in a few of the reviews). Having said that, I like the diagrams, and tools the recommended are easy to set up and use with complete install instructions, use cases are fairly real.I suggest that if you read this book over time, take the sample exercises at the end of various chapters. Delete the git test directory from thse sample exercises (or create a new directory), and manually run through all the exercises until you remember what all the relevant commands are. Each exercise builds on the previous (picks up where it left off). A couple of good things come out of this - habit helps w/ memory (what steps to take place, when), and it is a great refresher as you are learning to topic because the book is a bit of a long read.The author also allows you to skip over sections that cover some of the plumbing of git. I enjoyed them but I imagine that would depend on what you are trying to get out of the book.I would highly recommend this book.

This book is the best Git book I have found so far. It can be a bit preachy and verbose at times but the examples and explanations are top drawer. I like the way the topics are outlined and presented as well.

Good descriptions, good index, extra detail in descriptions works for a reference but makes it a slow slog as a tutorial.It's nice to get the extra details when using it as a references (which is my primary use), but I would prefer it stick to only basic introduction when I'm using it as a tutorial -- adding the details in a more advanced section later.I prefer the FIRST edition of Scott Chacon's "Pro Git", by APress, but the second edition of "Pro Git' has such a lousy index that it's essentially worthless to me as a reference book. This book -- Brent Laster's "Professional Git" -- has been a great desk-side reference for new git topics and enhanced coverage of traditional topics.

I will keep it because I need the reference, but it's disappointing to pay for a new book and receive one that's already showing signs of wear: scuffed corners, bent cover and creasing.

I just finished reading Professional Git, which is well organized and clearly presented. It works as both a tutorial for newcomers and a reference book for those more experienced. I found it ideal for hands-on reading and experimentation with things you may not understand at first glance. I was already familiar with Git for everyday use, but I've always stuck with a convenient subset. It was great to be able to finally get a much deeper understanding. I highly recommend the book.

Great book that helped understand how Git actually works differently from other version control systems