ELI5: git

What is Git?

Git is like a save button for code that remembers every change you ever made [1]. Imagine if you were drawing a picture and every time you made a mark, Git automatically saved a copy of exactly what you drew - so you could go back to any earlier version if you made a mistake [1].

Why do programmers use it?

When lots of people work on the same project, it's easy to accidentally delete someone else's work or have conflicting changes [1]. Git keeps track of who changed what and when, so everyone can work safely without losing code [1].

How does saving work?

Instead of just having one saved version like "final_final_FINAL.txt", Git saves snapshots of your entire project at different points in time [1]. You can jump back to any snapshot whenever you want, kind of like a time machine for your code [1].

Why is it so popular?

Git is free, works super fast even with huge projects, and almost every programmer uses it [5]. It's become the standard tool that everyone expects you to know [5].