Exercises — Stage 1: First Save Point

Exercise 1: Run git status in different states

Goal: Build a reflex for using git status.

Steps:

1. Run git status. It says clean.
2. Open index.html and add a space somewhere. Save.
3. Run git status. Now it says index.html is modified.
4. Undo the change and save again.
5. Run git status. It says clean once more.

What happened: git status compares your working folder against the most recent commit. When they match, it says clean. When they do not, it tells you exactly which files differ.

Exercise 2: Stage and unstage

Goal: See how git add moves a file into the staging area — and how to take it back out.

Steps:

1. Change <h1>Box Runner</h1> to <h1>Box Runner!</h1> and save.
2. Run git status. index.html is modified but not staged.
3. Run git add index.html. Run git status — it is now staged.
4. Run git restore --staged index.html. Run git status — it is modified again, but not staged.
5. Undo your edit in the file and save to get back to clean.

What happened: git add moves changes into the staging area, and git restore --staged moves them back out. Your actual file is never touched by either command — only Git's "ready to save" box changes.

Exercise 3: Read your history

Goal: Get comfortable with git log.

Steps:

1. Run git log.
2. Run git log --oneline.
3. Run git log --oneline --decorate.

What happened: Each variation shows the same one commit in a different format. Later, when you have many commits, --oneline is the fastest way to see your whole history at a glance.

Exercise 4: Peek inside .git

Goal: Confirm that the Git repo is just files on disk.

Steps:

1. Run ls -a inside box-runner. You see .git listed.
2. Run ls .git. You see folders like objects, refs, and a file called HEAD.
3. Do not edit anything inside .git.

What happened: The entire Git repository is a folder. That is why cloning a repo means copying files — there is no hidden database somewhere. If you deleted .git, you would go right back to Stage 0 (a plain folder with no history).