# Git Exercise — "Track a Poem"

**Goal:** Turn a folder into a Git repo, make commits, experiment with branches, and merge.

**Time:** ~10–15 minutes

---

### Step 1 — Set up (do once on your machine)

```bash
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"
```

### Step 2 — Create a project and turn it into a Git repo

```bash
cd ~/my-project
git init
```

You should see: `Initialized empty Git repository...`

### Step 3 — Create your first file and commit it

```bash
echo "Roses are red" > poem.txt
git add poem.txt
git commit -m "Add first line of poem"
```

### Step 4 — Add a second line

```bash
echo "Violets are blue" >> poem.txt
```

### Step 5 — See what changed

```bash
git status
git diff
```

`git status` shows the file is modified. `git diff` shows exactly what lines changed.

### Step 6 — Commit the change

```bash
git add .
git commit -m "Add second line"
```

### Step 7 — View the history

```bash
git log --oneline
```

You should see two commits.

### Step 8 — Create a branch and switch to it

```bash
git checkout -b spanish
```

This creates a branch named `spanish` and switches to it.

### Step 9 — Add a Spanish version on this branch

```bash
echo "Las rosas son rojas" > poem_es.txt
git add .
git commit -m "Add Spanish version"
```

### Step 10 — Switch back to main

```bash
git checkout main
```

List the files — notice `poem_es.txt` is gone. It only exists on the `spanish` branch.

```bash
ls
```

### Step 11 — Merge the branch

```bash
git merge spanish
```

Now `poem_es.txt` is back on `main`.

```bash
ls
git log --oneline
```

### Step 12 — Clean up the branch (optional)

```bash
git branch -d spanish
```

---

**Commands you used:** `git config`, `git init`, `git add`, `git commit`, `git status`, `git diff`, `git log`, `git checkout`, `git merge`, `git branch`

**What you learned:**
- Starting a Git repo
- Staging and committing changes
- Viewing history and differences
- Creating and switching branches
- Merging branches together