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Comment by sdfjkl | Hacker News Reader

I just gave up and use SourceTree. I don't like git's syntax at all, but have to work with it, so a nice GUI works best for me. Maybe I'm getting old, or maybe I just prefer a better designed command line interface (for my personal projects I'm using Fossil and am quite happy with the command line there.)

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I found out about SourceTree after I had already learned the commands and it improved my productivity a ton, I can do everything faster with it and rarely use commands. It has so many features baked in it is amazing. Huge props to Atlassian for buying it and making it free. It is now my goto recommendation for anyone getting into Git.

I used to use SourceTree. I moved to using GitX: http://rowanj.github.io/gitx/ and seem to prefer it much more. SourceTree feels too cluttered. Gitx has better UX and appeals to me as someone that prefers to view more relevant content on the screen.

> Gitx has better UX and appeals to me as someone that prefers to view more relevant content on the screen.

... and has a Mac, of course, which rules it out for many of us (though I can't speak for the sdfjkl).

Using a GUI is a great way to get your feet wet. One challenge with git is simply getting an intuitive understanding of how parts of the system relate to each other. After some time in SourceTree, it is possible you'll start to appreciate the flexibility of the CLI and maybe even find a place for it in your workflow.

I understand Git quite well and I still only use the CLI for the rare actions the GUI doesn't allow, like deleting a remote branch or using reflog to find a commit that's no longer pointed to. I use Git Extensions on Windows, SourceTree on Mac. I have a slight preference for Git Extensions.

SourceTree is the best. Without it, it is easy to get lost with Git.

I am normally just a command line guy, but I really do prefer SourceTree for merging and moving/visualizing branches. And it makes it nice to add only hunks of a file.

> I just gave up and use SourceTree. I don't like git's syntax at all, but have to work with it

There's also the hg-git option, may work well enough for you.

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