.gitignore

A .gitignore file specifies the files and directories that Git should ignore when tracking changes in a repository. This is particularly useful for excluding build artifacts, temporary files, dependencies, and sensitive information from version control. The .gitignore file should be located in the root directory of a repository.

Common .gitignore patterns

Below are common patterns typically included in .gitignore files:

# Ignore node modules directory
node_modules/

# Ignore build output directories
dist/
build/

# Ignore environment files
.env
.env.local

# Ignore log files
*.log

# Ignore system files
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# Ignore IDE specific files
.idea/
.vscode/
*.sublime-project
*.sublime-workspace

Creating a .gitignore file

Step 1: Create a new .gitignore file in the repository’s root directory:

touch .gitignore

Step 2: Open the file in the preferred text editor and specify the files and directories to ignore:

# Open with VS Code
code .gitignore

# Open with Vim
vim .gitignore

Note: Wildcards like ‘*‘ can be used for pattern matching and ‘#’ for comments in the .gitignore file.

Common .gitignore rules

1. Specific file: filename.txt
2. File pattern: *.log
3. Directory: node_modules/
4. Nested directory: **/logs/
5. Negation (don’t ignore): !important.log

Note: If ignored files have already been committed, remove them from Git’s tracking using git rm --cached <file> before .gitignore takes effect.