I started using git with my first Apple app because it was built into Xcode and one of the first lessons in the Stanford Xcode class recommended that we use it. I never used the branching features, since I’m the only one working on the code, but I frequently made use of the lookback features so I could roll back code that didn’t work or grab code that I had discarded but found out that I needed. So I basically used it for journaling.
Most of the websites that I work on don’t have lots of active users so when I want to make an update or something breaks, I just work on a copy or on the live files. However, I recently started a website that has active users and rather than only working in the site at night or making sure no one was using it before potentially breaking it, I decided to make a beta subdomain as I explained in some recent PHP-related posts. As long as I don’t mess with the database I can break whatever I want and it doesn’t affect users.
At first I thought that I’d use rsync to sync the two but git seems to work fine. The only problem is if I fix a small bug on the live site then I have trouble getting the new stuff to synchronize. I suppose I could figure out how to resolve differences, but an easier way is just to force the live site to match the beta site. Since they are on the same server, it doesn’t take any time to synchronize.
git fetch --all
git reset --hard origin/masterThe normal way to sync when I haven’t made any changes is just:
git pull origin masterI also keep a copy as backup on my laptop with the same code.
// Do this once to establish the origin
git remote add origin "ssh://g@wellgolly.com/www/beta/exercises/.git"
// Do this when you want to synchronize
git pull origin master