Git Community Book. Book. Table of Contents. Git Reference. Git User’s Manual (for version 1.5.3 or newer) This chapter covers internal details of the git implementation which probably only git developers need to understand.
It is not always easy for new developers to find their way through Git’s source code. This section gives you a little guidance to show where to start. A good place to start is with the contents of the initial commit, with: The initial revision lays the foundation for almost everything git has today, but is small enough to read in one sitting. Note that terminology has changed since that revision. For example, the README in that revision uses the word "changeset" to describe what we now call a commit. Also, we do not call it "cache" any more, but rather "index"; however, the file is still called cache.h. If you grasp the ideas in that initial commit, you should check out a more recent version and skim cache.h, object.h and commit.h.
Now is a good point to take a break to let this information sink in. Next step: get familiar with the object naming. What does this mean? Voila. Introduction to Git with Scott Chacon of GitHub. Git tutorial: Who should use Git? | lynda.com.