Walkthrough — Stage 1: First Save Point

This stage has no code changes. The walkthrough explains each Git command you ran.

Command: git init

git init

What's happening:

git init turns a normal folder into a Git repository. It creates a hidden folder called .git inside box-runner. Everything Git remembers — every file version, every commit message, every branch — lives in .git. You never edit .git directly.

Before git init: your folder is just a folder. After git init: Git is watching.

Command: git status

git status

What's happening:

git status is the "what is going on right now?" command. At this point it tells you index.html is untracked — Git can see the file, but has not been told to care about it yet.

You will run git status constantly while learning Git. It is the safest command — it never changes anything, it just reports.

Command: git add index.html

git add index.html

What's happening:

git add moves a file into the staging area. Think of the staging area as a cardboard box labeled "things to save next." The file is not saved yet — it is just packed into the box.

Running git status after this shows index.html under Changes to be committed.

Command: git commit -m "..."

git commit -m "Created basic Box Runner start screen"

What's happening:

git commit takes everything in the staging area and writes it into the Git history as a permanent save point. The -m flag attaches a short message describing the save.

Good commit messages describe what this save represents: Created basic Box Runner start screen. Future you will read this line in git log and know exactly what is in that commit.

Command: git log

git log

What's happening:

git log shows every save point in order, newest first. Right now there is one entry. After Stage 2 there will be two, and so on. git log is how you look backward in time.

Try git log --oneline for a shorter view — each commit becomes a single line.