What is a .gitignore file?
It is a text-based file in Git repositories that specifies intentionally tracked files and directories that Git must ignore. Sometimes developers don’t want to add some sensitive file in Git history. There, this file comes in the picture. The developer specifies those files in this file to ignore these files in the git history.
Syntax:
The syntax of .gitignore file is very simple, developers have to specify files, directories, or patterns to ignore. Anything you write in .gitignore file will be ignored by the Git system.
Example: The “secrets.txt” file never commit in Git repository
//.gitignore file
secrets.txt
Output
Benefits of “.gitignore” files
Here’s is the some benefits of “.gitignore” files
- Prevent Unwanted file from being tracked: The primary benefits of a “.gitignore” file is that it specifies intentionally untracked files to ignore by Git tool.
- Improve performance: Ignorriing unessarry file can improve the performance of Git operations. This increase the improve performance of some commands like “git status”, “git add” and others commands.
- Collaborations Enhances: A “.gitignore” file also helps developer to contribute on same project. However, It ignroes the necessary files.
Difference between .gitignore and .gitkeep
Git is a command line tool which is widely used for changes in source code during software development processes. It was developed by the Linux Torvalds in 2005 to manage the Linux Kernel development. This post will show the difference between the .gitignore and .gitkeep files.