How Git Actually Works — The Mental Model That Changes Everything
Commits as snapshots, branches as pointers, and the directed acyclic graph that powers it all
Most developers use Git like a save button. Commit, push, pray. When something goes wrong, they Google the error message and paste whatever Stack Overflow command looks right.
That works until it doesn't. And when it doesn't, you're stuck — because you never understood what Git was actually doing.
Here's the thing: Git is not complicated. It's just different from what you'd expect. Once you understand the mental model, commands that seemed like dark magic suddenly make perfect sense. And more importantly, when you tell your AI agent to "fix the branch," you'll actually understand what it's doing to your code.
Commits Are Snapshots, Not Diffs
This is the single most important thing to understand about Git, and most people get it wrong.
When you make a commit, Git does not store "wh
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