GUIs part 1

Author: ben

en/book/10-git-in-other-environments/chapter10.asc

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 == Git in Other Environments
 
+If you've read this far, you've learned a lot about how to use Git at the command line.
+You can work with local files, connect your repository to others over a network, and work effectively with others.
+But the story doesn't end there; Git is usually used as part of a larger ecosystem, and the terminal isn't always the best way to work with Git.
+Now we'll take a look at some of the other kinds of environments where Git can be useful.
+
 === Graphical Interfaces
 
+Git's native environment is in the terminal.
+New features show up there first, and only at the command line is the full power of Git completely at your disposal.
+But plain text isn't the best choice for all tasks; sometimes a visual representation is what you need, and some users are much more comfortable with a point-and-click interface.
+
+Remember that different interfaces are tailored for different workflows.
+Some clients only expose only a carefully curated subset of Git functionality, in order to support a specific way of using Git that the author considers effective.
+When viewed in this light, none of these tools is ``better'' than any of the others, they're simply more fit for their intended purpose.
+Also note that there's nothing these graphical clients can do that the command-line client can't.
+
 ==== gitk & git-gui
 
+When you install Git, you also get its visual tools, `gitk` and `git-gui`.
+
+`gitk` is a graphical shell over `git log`, and it acts primarily as a history viewer.
+It is easiest to invoke from the command-line; `cd` into a Git repository, and type:
+
+-----
+gitk [git log options]
+-----
+
+Gitk accepts many command-line options, most of which are passed through to the underlying `git log` action.
+Probably one of the most useful is the `--all` flag, which tells gitk to show commits reachable from _any_ ref, not just HEAD.
+Gitk's interface looks like <<gitk>>.
+
+[[gitk]]
+.The `gitk` history viewer.
+image::images/gitk.png[The `gitk` history viewer.]
+
+On the top is something that looks a bit like the output of `git log --graph`; each dot represents a commit, and the graph is decorated with refs.
+The yellow dot represents HEAD, and the red dot represents changes that are yet to become a commit.
+At the bottom is a view of the selected commit; the comments and patch on the left, and a summary view on the right.
+In between is a collection of controls used for searching history.
+
+`git-gui`, on the other hand, is primarily a tool for crafting commits.
+It, too, is easiest to invoke from the command line:
+
+-----
+git gui
+-----
+
+And it looks something like <<git-gui>>.
+
+[[git-gui]]
+.The `git-gui` commit tool.
+image::images/git-gui.png[The `git-gui` commit tool.]
+
 ==== GitHub for Windows/Mac
 
 ==== Other GUIs