How to Use Git to Commit Changes and Revert Code in Your Project

Git is a powerful version control system that allows developers to track changes, collaborate with others, and manage project history efficiently. Whether you’re working on a small personal project or a large team-based application, understanding how to commit changes and undo mistakes is essential.

In this guide, we’ll cover:

1. Committing changes to your project

2. Viewing your commit history

3. Reverting code to a previous commit

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1. Committing Changes in Git

After editing your code, Git allows you to stage and commit your changes so they become part of the project history.

Step 1: Check the status of your repository

git status

• Shows which files are modified, staged, or untracked.

• Example output:

On branch main
Changes not staged for commit:
  modified:   app/models.py
  modified:   app/views.py
Untracked files:
  new_file.py

Step 2: Stage the changes

Use git add to stage files you want to include in your next commit:

git add app/models.py app/views.py

• To stage all changes, you can use:

git add .

Step 3: Commit the changes

Once staged, commit your changes with a descriptive message:

git commit -m "Add user authentication and profile page"

• The commit message should clearly describe the changes you made.

• After committing, your changes are saved in Git’s history.

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2. Viewing Your Commit History

To see all commits in your project:

git log --oneline

• Example output:

6sfsfb0a Add user authentication and profile page
fsfsfgh Fix bug in post creation
i5sf9l Initial commit

• Each commit has a hash (e.g., 6c03b0a) that identifies it.

• This hash is useful when you want to revert or reset changes.

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3. Reverting Code to a Previous Commit

Sometimes you may make changes that you no longer want to keep. Git provides several ways to undo changes:

Option A: Keep changes in working directory (soft reset)

git reset --soft 

• Moves your branch pointer to the specified commit.

• Keeps changes in your working directory staged for a new commit.

• Example:

git reset --soft f4vdv6h

Option B: Undo a commit safely (create a new commit)

git revert 

• Creates a new commit that undoes the specified commit.

• Safe to use if you’ve already shared your branch with others.

Example:

git revert 6ddg0a

• Git will generate a commit like “Revert ‘Add user authentication and profile page’”.

Option C: Discard all changes completely (hard reset)

git reset --hard 

• Resets your branch to the given commit and discards all changes after it.

• Warning: This is destructive — changes cannot be recovered unless backed up.

Example:

git reset --hard ffsesh

• Use git status after this to confirm your branch matches the previous state.

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4. Pushing Changes to Remote Repository

After committing or reverting locally, you can update your remote repository:

git push origin main

• If you used --hard reset or changed history, you may need to force push:

git push origin main --force

⚠️ Use force push with caution, as it overwrites remote history.