Working tree

The working tree (also known as the working directory or working copy) represents the files and directories of your project that you can edit, delete, and organize on your computer. The working tree is where you make changes to your files before you decide to commit those changes to your repository.

Git keeps track of the differences between the files in your working tree and the last commit on your current branch. This allows you to edit, add, and delete files freely in your working tree without immediately affecting the repository's commit history. Once you're satisfied with your changes, you can add them to the staging area (with a command like git add) and then commit them to your repository, creating a new snapshot in the project's history.

When you check out a branch or a specific commit, the files in your working tree are updated to match the state of the repository at that point. You can then make changes to these files, such as adding new features, fixing bugs, or making improvements to the codebase.

The working tree is important because:

• It gives you a tangible, editable view of your project at its current state or at any branch you have checked out.
• It allows you to work on your project's files and test your changes before deciding to create a new commit.
• It enables you to see the effects of switching branches or pulling in changes from a remote repository immediately in your file system.

Examples

Let's say you're working on a web application project. You have cloned the repository to your local machine, and your working tree now contains all the project files, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and configuration files.

project-root/
  ├── .git/
  ├── index.html
  ├── styles.css
  ├── app.js
  └── config.json

Here, the .git folder is the actual local Git repository, and the rest of the files and directories inside the project-root are your working tree. It's important to note that the .git folder is not part of the working tree because it's the repository itself.

git status

git diff

git restore path/to/file.txt

git add .