Welcome to this course on Git Hooks and Automation. In this first segment, we will explore the fundamentals of Git Hooks and how they can be a powerful tool to automate various tasks within your workflow with Git.

What are Git Hooks?

Git Hooks are scripts that Git automatically executes at certain points in the commit lifecycle of a repository. These points can vary from local actions such as committing or pushing, to server actions like receiving updates from a repo. Hooks allow you to intercept these actions and run custom scripts, providing powerful automation and control capabilities.

Examples of Git Hooks:

• pre-commit: Runs before a commit is confirmed.
• pre-push: Runs before sending commits to the server.
• post-checkout: Runs after checking out a branch or commit.

Why Use Git Hooks?

Automation

Git Hooks allow you to automate repetitive tasks and maintain a consistent workflow. For example, you can validate code formatting, run automated tests, or generate documentation before allowing a commit or push.

Consistency

Ensuring that certain criteria are met before allowing actions can help maintain the integrity and quality of the codebase. For example, you can ensure that all commits follow a specific message format.

Customization

Git Hooks can be tailored to the specific needs of your project. You can write scripts in any language that your environment supports, such as Bash, Python, Perl, among others.

An Example of Using a Git Hook

Let's say you want to ensure that all commit messages follow a specific format. You can use the commit-msg hook to validate the commit message and reject those that do not meet the format.

bash

In this script, it checks that the commit message contains a JIRA ID followed by a colon and a description. If the message does not meet this format, the commit is rejected and an error message is displayed.

Next Steps

In the following segments, we'll explore the basic concepts of Git, the different types of Git Hooks, and how to configure them both on the client and server side. We'll also see how we can use them to automate various tasks and ensure the quality and consistency of our code.

This course is designed to offer practical examples and apply Git Hooks in real-world situations, allowing you to understand and use these tools effectively.

Let's get started!