Git Collaboration: Key Points

Introduction

Global configuration is via .gitconfig
Local configuration is via .git/config and takes precedence over Global.
Configuration can be done at the command line or by editing files.
Ignore files using .gitignore.
Make commits atomic, i.e. small and focused using git commit --amend and git commit --fixup, better still make life easier using git absorb.
git rebase --interactive can be used to squash commits.
Keeping the commit history atomic and clean makes it easier to understand what work has been undertaken.
Git periodically tidies things up for you with git gc.
You can and should enable further automated cleaning by enabling git mainenance on a repository.

Branches and how they relate to each other are fundamental to collaborating using Git.
The history of a branch is a series of commits and extends all the way back to the very first commit and not the point at which it forked from its parents.
Branches can be easily created, merged and deleted.
Commits all have references and Git can move you between these references using git commit or compare them using git diff.

Hooks are actions run by Git before or after particular events such as commit, push and pull via scripts.
They are defined in Bash scripts in the .git/hooks directory.
The pre-commit framework provides a wealth of hooks that can be enabled to run, by default, before commits are made.
Each hook can be configured to run on specific files, or to take additional arguments.
Local hooks can be configured to run when dependencies that will only be found on your system/virtual environment are required.
Use hooks liberally as you develop your code locally, they save you time.

Continuous Integration/Delivery is a useful method of checking code before it enters the main branch.
GitHub uses Actions that are defined by YAML configuration files under .github/workflow/.
Actions can be restricted to events/branches/tags.
pre-commit.ci allows integration of pre-commit hooks in GitHub Actions.