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docs: rewrite glossary — 46 terms with chapter cross-references
- Expand from 24 to 46 terms covering all tutorial concepts
- Add chapter cross-reference column linking each term to where
it is explained
- Use Git-specific definitions matching tutorial terminology
- Remove generic version control terms (trunk, delta compression,
forward integration, etc.)
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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## Glossary
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Definitions sourced from [Wikipedia — Version control](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Version_control).
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| Term | Definition |
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|------|-----------|
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| Blame | A search for the author and revision that last modified a particular resource |
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| Branch | A pointer to a commit allowing parallel development |
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| Change | A specific modification to a document under version control (also: diff, delta) |
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| Checkout | Create a local working copy from the repository |
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| Clone | Create a repository containing the revisions from another repository |
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| Commit | A snapshot of changes applied to the repository, with author and message |
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| Conflict | When different parties change the same lines and Git cannot auto-merge |
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| Delta compression | Storing only the differences between successive file versions |
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| Downstream | Data flow from the original repository to a clone |
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| Fetch | Download commit history from a remote without merging |
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| Forward integration | Merging main trunk changes into a feature branch |
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| HEAD | Reference to the current revision — attached (branch tip) or detached (commit) |
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| Index | The staging area — a sorted list of files prepared for the next commit |
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| Merge | Combining two sets of changes into one |
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| Origin | Default alias for the remote repository URL |
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| Pull | Copy revisions from remote into local (initiated by receiver) |
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| Pull request | A request for others to review and merge pushed changes |
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| Push | Copy revisions from local to remote (initiated by sender) |
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| Repository | Where files' current and historical data are stored |
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| Resolve | User intervention to address a merge conflict |
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| Revision | A version — any recorded change |
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| Tag | A named reference to an important snapshot (lightweight or annotated) |
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| Trunk | The main line of development (also: main, mainline) |
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| Upstream | Data flow from a clone back to the original repository |
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| Working copy | The local copy of files at a specific revision (the sandbox) |
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| Term | Definition | Chapter |
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|------|-----------|---------|
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| Annotated tag | A tag object with author, date, and message — stored in `.git/objects/`|[2](02-building-blocks.md)|
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| Bare repository | A repository with no working tree — only `.git/` internals |[2](02-building-blocks.md)|
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| Bisect | Binary search through commit history to find the commit that introduced a bug |[6](06-expert-topics.md)|
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| Blame | Show which commit and author last modified each line of a file |[7](07-playbook.md)|
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| Blob | Object that stores the raw contents of a single file |[2](02-building-blocks.md)|
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| Branch | A movable pointer to a commit, stored in `.git/refs/heads/`|[2](02-building-blocks.md)|
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| Cherry-pick | Copy a single commit from one branch onto another, creating a new commit with a different hash |[3](03-branching-and-merging.md)|
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| Clone | Create a local copy of a remote repository, including full history, origin remote, and tracking branches |[4](04-remote-repositories.md)|
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| Commit | An object that records a snapshot of the project — references a tree, parent commits, author, and message |[2](02-building-blocks.md)|
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| Conflict | When two branches modify the same lines and Git cannot merge them automatically |[3](03-branching-and-merging.md)|
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| Detached HEAD | State where HEAD points directly to a commit instead of a branch — new commits are orphaned if you switch away |[2](02-building-blocks.md)|
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| Fast-forward | A merge where the target branch simply moves forward to the source branch tip — no merge commit is created |[3](03-branching-and-merging.md)|
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| Fetch | Download commits from a remote and update remote-tracking branches without modifying local branches |[4](04-remote-repositories.md)|
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| Fork | A hosting-platform copy of someone else's repository under your account |[4](04-remote-repositories.md)|
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| Garbage collection | Git's process for removing orphaned objects from `.git/objects/`|[6](06-expert-topics.md)|
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| Hash | A unique 40-character identifier (SHA-1) computed from an object's content |[2](02-building-blocks.md)|
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| HEAD | Reference to the current position — usually points to a branch, sometimes directly to a commit (detached) |[2](02-building-blocks.md)|
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| Hook | A script in `.git/hooks/` that Git runs automatically before or after events like commit or push |[6](06-expert-topics.md)|
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| Index | The staging area — a sorted list of tracked files prepared for the next commit, stored at `.git/index`|[2](02-building-blocks.md)|
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| Interactive rebase | Editing, reordering, squashing, or dropping commits before sharing them |[6](06-expert-topics.md)|
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| Lightweight tag | A tag that is just a file in `.git/refs/tags/` containing a commit hash — no object, no metadata |[2](02-building-blocks.md)|
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| Merge | Combining changes from two branches into one, optionally creating a merge commit |[3](03-branching-and-merging.md)|
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| Merge commit | A commit with two or more parents, created by a 3-way merge |[3](03-branching-and-merging.md)|
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| Origin | Conventional name for the remote you cloned from |[4](04-remote-repositories.md)|
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| Orphaned commit | A commit no branch or tag points to — eligible for garbage collection after reflog expiry |[6](06-expert-topics.md)|
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| Pathspec | A pattern that matches files or directories in Git commands |[6](06-expert-topics.md)|
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| Pull | Fetch from a remote and merge (or rebase) into the current branch |[4](04-remote-repositories.md)|
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| Pull request | A hosting-platform feature for requesting review and merge of a branch |[4](04-remote-repositories.md)|
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| Push | Upload local commits to a remote branch |[4](04-remote-repositories.md)|
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| Rebase | Replay commits from one branch on top of another, producing a linear history |[3](03-branching-and-merging.md)|
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| Reflog | A local log of every position HEAD and branch tips have been in — used to recover lost commits |[6](06-expert-topics.md)|
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| Refspec | Syntax that maps references between a remote and a local repository (e.g. `+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*`) |[6](06-expert-topics.md)|
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| Remote | A named reference to another repository, stored in `.git/config`|[4](04-remote-repositories.md)|
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| Remote-tracking branch | A read-only local reference that mirrors a remote branch (e.g. `origin/main`), updated by fetch and pull |[4](04-remote-repositories.md)|
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| Repository | The `.git/` directory containing all objects, references, and configuration for a project |[2](02-building-blocks.md)|
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| Reset | Move HEAD and optionally the branch tip to a different commit — `--soft`, `--mixed`, or `--hard`|[2](02-building-blocks.md)|
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| Revert | Create a new commit that undoes a previous commit's changes without rewriting history |[7](07-playbook.md)|
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| Squash merge | Combine all commits from a branch into a single change set on the target branch — no merge commit |[3](03-branching-and-merging.md)|
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| Stash | Save uncommitted changes temporarily so you can switch branches with a clean working tree |[3](03-branching-and-merging.md)|
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| Submodule | A reference to a specific commit in another repository — stores URL and hash, not files |[5](05-subprojects.md)|
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| Subtree | A full copy of another repository merged into a subdirectory of the parent project |[5](05-subprojects.md)|
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| Tag | A named reference to a commit — annotated (object with metadata) or lightweight (plain reference) |[2](02-building-blocks.md)|
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| Tree | Object that represents a directory — lists blobs and other trees with names and permissions |[2](02-building-blocks.md)|
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| Upstream | Conventional name for the original repository you forked from |[4](04-remote-repositories.md)|
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| Working tree | The checked-out files on disk that you edit directly — everything outside `.git/`|[2](02-building-blocks.md)|
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