Boost Your Git DX

🚀 Updated January 25th 2025—see update blog post.

This book covers the best command line Git tools, techniques, tips, tricks, and tactical tidbits I’ve encountered from over a decade of using Git. The selection reflects my preferences for well-maintained tools that provide high value with little need for customization.

Note that this book is not an introduction to Git and assumes that you’re already using Git on a daily basis. It offers ways to improve your developer experience with Git that ultimately help you code faster.

Free sample

Download the free sample to read the introduction and first three chapters.

Contents

The book contains 20 chapters. Below is a brief summary of the contents. See the latest update post for a full table of contents and links to sample content.

1. Introduction
   Opening notes, a description of the included examples, acknowledgements, and changelog.
2. Global configuration
   Git's configuration files, basic options to configure, backing up configuration files in a repository.
3. Aliases
   Shorten Git commands with both shell and Git aliases.
4. Shell configuration
   Improve your shell experience with oh-my-zsh and Starship.
5. Shell tools
   Three tools that integrate with Git: Less, delta, and ripgrep.
6. Repository configuration
   Improvements for per-repository configuration: default branch naming and Git ignore files.
7. Hooks and the pre-commit framework
   Extend Git with the pre-commit framework and related hooks.
8. Command commonalities
   Options and data types common to all or many Git commands.
9. init and clone
   Tips for starting repositories, both new and cloned.
10. branch and switch
    Manage branches and switch around to commits.
11. status and diff
    Make checking status easier and improve the diffs that Git generates.
12. add and restore
    Learn how to add changes with precision and undo/un-add them with “git restore”.
13. commit and reset
    Commit faster and carefully undo commits with “git reset”.
14. stash and apply
    Two commands for handling changes outside of the regular workflow.
15. push and pull
    Make pushing and pulling branches a little bit smoother.
16. merge and rebase
    Improve how merging and rebasing works.
17. log and reflog
    Find details from the commit log with precision and undo destructive actions with the reflog.
18. blame and bisect
    Track who changed what when with blame and use bisect to track down problem commits.
19. worktree
    Work on multiple branches at once with worktrees.
20. Outroduction
    Honourable mentions that didn’t quite make it, and further reading.

FAQ

Who are you?

Hi, I'm Adam Johnson. I'm an author and solo consultant working with Django and Python.

I’ve used Git since 2012 and have 1.3k repositories on my GitHub profile. I even managed to become a Git contributor whilst writing this book.

What's included?

A PDF watermarked with your email address, an ePub, an AZW3 file (Kindle), and a resources zip file containing all the code examples.

Will you do a printed version?

Unfortunately, I can’t afford to do print versions right now.

Do you offer any discounts?

Gumroad’s purchasing power parity feature will automatically offer you a discount based on your location.

Outside of that, I offer occasional seasonal discounts. Follow my blog, Mastodon, or Bluesky to be notified of these.

Can I get an invoice?

Gumroad will send you a receipt with a "generate" button to turn it into an invoice so you can make your employer pay!

Can I purchase with an alternative method (e.g. direct bank transfer)?

Due to accounting limitations, I can only sell my product on Gumroad. If it doesn't work for you, please try emailing Gumroad support (support@gumroad.com) and CC'ing me.

Praise

“Adam has put together such a comprehensive collection of topics, each with appropriate levels of detail (enough to make you self-sufficient, not too much to confuse you). I love that the chapters can be read in any order. It would be the perfect companion for a git Lunch & Learn series. It's perfect for a book club. I feel like it's the perfect summary for the material that is floating around in my head.”
—Blaise Pabón on Mastodon

“This book transformed my day-to-day operations. As a self-taught engineer, I have found myself starved for mentorship, and Boost Your Git DX has been my most influential mentor in 2023.”
—Lance Goyke on his blog

“🤯🤯🤯
That's my reaction after every section in “Boost Your Git DX” by @AdamChainz, a goldmine of excellent tips about git.”
—Rodrigo on Twitter

“whether you're new to git or an experienced veteran -- @AdamChainz’s new book "Boost Your Git DX" has something for everyone! (even I learned a cool new thing: git config --show-origin)”
—Anthony Sottile on Twitter

“I heartily recommend #BoostYourGitDX by @adamchainz. The configuration chapter alone was worth the price. And I now finally understand git bisect!”
—Daniel Andrlik on Mastodon

“Both [Boost Your DX books] are amazing, they remind me of my school days when you would sit in the computer lab next to the wizards, and come away with new magical skills.”
—John Beimler on Mastodon

“I've been using git for years and can do all the basic stuff there. But the "Boost Your Git DX" shares many useful tips, configuration settings, and options I didn't know about. It finally pushed me to revisit my git workflows and apply some improvements.”
—Sebastian Witowski on LinkedIn

“@AdamChainz book is an excellent, practical complement to ProGit. It focuses on how to do the things you will need to do, and related tools for improving your git qol.”
—Dan O’Leary on Twitter

“@AdamChainz book, Is a game-changer for anyone looking to level up their Git skills and streamline their development process. You're empowering me with your knowledge! 🚀📚”
—Ngazetungue Muheue on Twitter

“"Boost Your Git DX" by @adamchainz is THE comprehensive guide to Git you should be reading. Every page is imbued with useful advice and productivity tips. Personally, I understood and started using worktrees more. Check it out!”
—Julius Seporaitis on Twitter

“Adam's written two books before (Boost Your Django DX; Speed Up Your Django Tests) — both paid for themselves within the first hour of my purchase.
This one's a no-brainer, too.”
—Justin Duke on Twitter

“I picked up the early access Boost Your Git DX by @adamchainz and even within the first couple chapters I’ve found some really useful tips!”
—Daniel Andrlik on Mastodon

“Discovered the magic of ‘git stash’, after reading about it in @adamchainz book “Boost your Git DX” today. Tucked away my code changes safely, only to unleash them again when ready. A small yet mighty command!”
—J-O Eriksson on Mastodon

“I'm learning a lot of neat Git tricks from Boost Your Git DX by @AdamChainz
If you use Git, check out Adam's book! 🔥🔥🔥”
—Mike Driscoll on Twitter

“I had the opportunity to preview a few chapters of Adam's book and was seriously impressed. I can almost guarantee you'll learn some tricks and ways to optimize your workflow. He went down the rabbit hole so you don't have to.”
—Peter Baumgartner on Twitter

“I'm really excited by @adamchainz' new book, Boost Your Git DX". I've been using git for over 14 years now and I can say that at least a third of the table of contents is new for me.”
—Daniel Roy Greenfeld on Twitter