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MiniGit

MiniGit is a lightweight, simplified implementation of the Git version control system written entirely in C.

Features

MiniGit successfully replicates the core storage and tracking mechanics of real Git:

  • Object Database: Hashes files using SHA-1 and compresses them using zlib.
  • Blob, Tree, and Commit Objects: Correctly formats and stores different Git object types.
  • Staging Area: Maintains an .index file to track tracked and staged files.
  • History Traversal: Parses and decompresses binary commit objects to trace repository history.

Dependencies

To compile and run MiniGit, your system must have the standard C build tools, as well as the OpenSSL and zlib development headers.

On Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential libssl-dev zlib1g-dev

On MacOS:

brew install openssl zlib

Project Structure

minigit/
├── Makefile
├── README.md
├── include/
│   ├── commit.h
│   ├── index.h
│   ├── init.h
│   ├── log.h
│   ├── objects.h
│   └── status.h
└── src/
    ├── commit.c    # Logic for generating trees and commits
    ├── index.c     # Logic for parsing and updating the staging area
    ├── init.c      # Directory and branch initialization
    ├── log.c       # History traversal and object decompression
    ├── main.c      # CLI argument parsing and routing
    ├── objects.c   # Core engine for SHA-1 hashing and Zlib compression
    └── status.c    # Formatted output for the current index state

Usage:

  • init:

    Initializes a new, empty repository. Creates the hidden .minigit directory structure and the default master branch pointer.

    ./minigit init

  • add:

    Stages a file for the next commit. MiniGit reads the file, compresses it into a blob object, saves it in .minigit/objects/, and records the file path and hash in .minigit/index.

     ./minigit add <filename>

  • status:

    Reads the staging area (.minigit/index) and displays the files that are currently staged and ready to be committed.

./minigit status

  • commit:

    Takes a snapshot of the staging area. It generates a Tree object representing the directory structure, creates a Commit object linking to the Tree and the parent commit, and advances the master branch pointer.

./minigit commit -m "Your commit message here"

  • log:

    Traverses the commit history. It starts at the HEAD pointer, uncompresses the commit objects on the fly, and prints the author, date, message, and commit hash, traversing backwards through the parent hashes.

./minigit log