The Hidden Chamber of Timeless Code: Navigating the Realm of Git Stash

Imagine you have a box of toys, and you're arranging them in a specific way. The way the toys are arranged represents the "master" way. Then, you decide to try arranging the toys differently, so you create a new arrangement ("new branch") next to the original one.

Now, you start playing with the toys and making changes to how they're arranged in the new arrangement. But suddenly, you remember that the original arrangement was better, and you want to go back to it without saving the changes you made in the new arrangement.

When you switch back to the original arrangement, two things can happen:

1. No Conflicts: If the toys you changed in the new arrangement are different from the ones in the original arrangement, then it's like the toys in the two arrangements don't interfere with each other. So, you can easily switch back to the original arrangement without any problems.

2. Possible Conflicts: If the toys you changed in the new arrangement are the same or similar to the toys in the original arrangement, it's like trying to put two toys in the same spot at the same time. This can cause conflict. In this case, the toy organizer (Git) might tell you that there's a problem and ask you to decide which arrangement to keep – the original one or the changes you made. You'll need to solve this conflict before you can switch back to the original arrangement.

In a nutshell, whether the changes come back to the original arrangement ("master branch") or not depends on whether the changes you made in the new arrangement conflict with the original one. If there's no conflict, you can switch back easily. If there's a conflict, you'll need to solve it before going back.

Stashing

Git provides a helpful feature called "stashing" that lets you temporarily save your changes without committing them, so you can switch to a different branch and come back to your changes later. Think of it as putting your changes in a box and setting it aside for a moment.

1. Stash Your Changes: When you're on the branch with your changes and want to switch to another branch (like going back to the original arrangement of toys), but you're not ready to commit your changes, you can use the Git stash command. This command takes a snapshot of your changes and stores them safely away.

2. Switch Branches: After stashing your changes, you can confidently switch to the branch you want (like switching back to the original toy arrangement). Your working directory becomes clean and matches the state of the branch you're switching to.

3. Retrieve Stashed Changes: When you're ready to go back to the changes you stashed, you can use the Git stash pop or Git stash apply command. These commands take the changes you stashed and apply them back to your working directory. If there are no conflicts, the changes are added back just as you left them.

However, if there are conflicts (like trying to put two toys in the same spot), Git will let you know and prompt you to resolve those conflicts. Once conflicts are resolved, you can continue working with your changes as usual.

In a nutshell, stashing is like putting your changes in a safe place, so you can work on other things without losing your progress. When you're ready to come back to your changes, Git helps you take them out of the box and continue where you left off.

The command to stash all the uncommitted changes, including both staged and unstaged changes, is:

>> git stash save "Your stash message here"

Replace "Your stash message here" with a brief description of what you're stashing. This message can help you remember why you stashed these changes when you come back to them later. For example:

>> git stash save "Work in progress on new feature"

After running this command, Git will save your changes in a temporary storage area, allowing you to switch to a different branch or work on something else. When you're ready to retrieve these changes, we can use the below commands to remove and apply.

>> git stash pop

The above command will apply the changes and remove them from the stash.

>> git stash apply

The above command will apply the changes but keep them in the stash as well.

If you want to remove the changes from the stash after applying, you can use git stash pop. If you want to keep the changes in the stash for future use, you can use git stash apply.

Note: we can add multiple stashes on the stack of stashes. This will be saveed in order of the stash

The command is used to display a list of the stashed changes that you have saved. When you run this command, Git will show you the stash events along with their indexes and optional messages.

>> git stash list

Here's an example of what the output might look like:

stash@{0}: WIP on new-feature: 3a2f1b7 Added new functionality
stash@{1}: WIP on bug-fix: 7e1c5d9 Fixed a critical issue

In this example, there are two stash events listed:

1. stash@{0}: This is the most recent stash event. It's from a branch named new-feature and has the message "WIP on new-feature: Added new functionality".

2. stash@{1}: This is the second most recent stash event. It's from a branch named bug-fix and has the message "WIP on bug-fix: Fixed a critical issue".

The stash@{n} notation allows you to refer to specific stash events by their index. This notation is useful when you want to apply, drop, or inspect a particular stash event.

To view the details of the stash event, you can use the following command:

>> git stash show stash@{n}

Replace n with the index of the stash event you want to view. The index starts from 0 for the most recent stash and increments as you move back in time. For example, to view the details of the most recent stash event, you would use:

>> git stash show stash@{0}

This command will display information about the changes that were stashed, including the files that were changed, the lines that were modified, and any differences. It's helpful to understand what changes are stored in the stash before deciding whether to apply or drop them.

If you want to apply a specific stash event other than the most recent one, you can specify the event's index using the stash@{n} notation. For example:

>> git stash apply stash@{1}

This would apply to the changes from the second most recent stash event.

The command is used to remove a specific stash event from the stash list.

>> git stash drop stash@{n}

Replace n with the index of the stash event you want to drop. For example, to remove the second most recent stash event, you would use:

>> git stash drop stash@{1}

Keep in mind that using git stash drop will permanently remove the specified stash event and its associated changes. If you haven't applied or used those changes yet and are sure you don't need them, you can safely drop the stash event to clean up your stash list.

The command used to remove all stash events from the stash list.

>> git stash clear

When you run this command, Git will delete all the saved stash events and their associated changes. It's like cleaning out your stash entirely.

This command is useful when you want to completely get rid of all the stashed changes and start fresh. Just be cautious because once you clear the stash, you won't be able to recover any of the stashed changes.

Before using git stash clear, make sure you're certain that you don't need any of the stashed changes anymore. If you're unsure or want to keep certain stashed changes, it's better to use the git stash drop to remove specific stash events or apply the changes before clearing the entire stash.