git diff HEAD between the tree and the HEAD

[git-wiki.git] / pep-git.txt

diff --git a/pep-git.txt b/pep-git.txt
index 9dd4b0ca9647fd5e9bb34dee9095be5774e27a7f..aa86ef8f8fa0bd59e0394eb8286e7e33a8f8b2de 100644 (file)
--- a/pep-git.txt
+++ b/pep-git.txt
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@ Quick start
 Download and installation
 -------------------------
 
-Unix users: download and install using your package manager.
+Unix users: `download and install using your package manager
+<https://git-scm.com/download/linux>`_.
 
 Microsoft Windows: download `git-for-windows
 <https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/releases>`_ or `msysGit
@@ -637,8 +638,32 @@ Advanced topics
 Staging area
 ------------
 
-Staging area aka index is a distinguishing feature of git. See
-`WhatIsTheIndex
+Staging area aka index aka cache is a distinguishing feature of git.
+Staging area is where git collects patches before committing them.
+Separation between collecting patches and commit phases provides a
+very useful feature of git: one can review collected patches before
+commit and even edit them - remove some hunks, add new hunks and
+review again.
+
+To add files to the index use ``git add``. Collecting patches before
+committing means you need to do that for every change, not only to add
+new (untracked) files. To simplify committing in case you just want to
+commit everything without reviewing run ``git commit --all`` (or just
+``-a``) - the command adds every changed tracked file to the index and
+then commit.
+
+To add hunks of patches to the index use ``git add --patch`` (or just
+``-p``). To remove collected files from the index use ``git reset HEAD
+-- $FILE...`` To add/inspect/remove collected hunks use ``git add
+--interactive`` (``-i``).
+
+To see the diff between the index and the last commit (i.e., collected
+patches) use ``git diff --cached``. To see the diff between the
+working tree and the index (i.e., uncollected patches) use just ``git
+diff``. To see the diff between the working tree and the last commit
+(i.e., both collected and uncollected patches) use ``git diff HEAD``.
+
+See `WhatIsTheIndex
 <https://git.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/WhatIsTheIndex>`_ and
 `IndexCommandQuickref
 <https://git.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/IndexCommandQuickref>`_ in Git