It has been roughly one month since I have started using Git – previous SCM’s were SVN and TFS. One month into using a distributed SCM’s and I am very impressed. A few suggestions to those thinking of migrating or trying it out…
Prepare to feel uncomfortable for a while – this goes when changing or trying out anything new – especially when you are comfortable with previous tools, when I moved to Git it felt very foreign at first, especially coming from a Windows paradigm where you are used to everything being nicely wrapped in a GUI. The benefit I see from trying Git out with Git Bash etc. for a Windows based developer is it gets you exposed to new tools and paradigms. For instance, I had heard of Vim before but had never endeavoured to use it – when I started using Git Bash I decided I would give Vim a try – and now while I am no expert to it, at least I have a base to work on. Watch the Git videos – I found the videos by Scott Chacon were a useful to go through – I would suggest to walk through them before you start with Git, and then once you have battled it out for a few weeks to review them. One of the concepts I battled to pick up was what a remote repository was compared to a local one… it took a while, I just kept reverting back to my SVN concepts which got in the way – after a few days of not getting it, I simulated it on my home network and then it made sense… I would suggest getting used to Git without playing with Github – just so that you don’t get caught up with to much to soon. So, it has been one month and I am satisfied with the results I have. I am very happy with Git and would recommend it to any team who is looking for a solid SCM.
