Everyone in Business needs to learn git

[ productivity ] · 5 min read

I love using git. I love the workflow. Deep down I am an scientist. I love running experiments. Nowadays this means creating new or altering existing code basis. There is nothing more stressful to remember the state of my programm from this morning, yesterday, last week or - god behold - last year.

Git allows me just to do that: running experiments on branches. If it works out nice: good, I merge it with the main branche and create a new feature. If not? Who cares, I delete it and be ok with it. Git gives you the freedom of running experiments without drawbacks. Just Revert to the latest stable version (i.e. git checkout master).

My current position and work (Data, Coding, developing, …) and working from home it was clear to me, that the working environment of white collar jobs is a rapidly evolving field. Last year we were even trying to run several agile project using the SCRUM framework (remember: at the time of writing this I am in Finance).

For me, mastering efficient version control systems has become a vital skill. Among the various version control tools available, Git has emerged as the industry standard, revolutionizing the way teams manage, collaborate, and track changes in their projects.

I have a strong take: Mastering Git is an essential skill for professionals in any field. It enhances productivity, fosters efficient collaboration, and propels career growth by enabling individuals to adapt to industry standards and work seamlessly in diverse teams.

I know this is a hard take, and it sure is a very technical tool. I myself will always prefer the CLI verison, but I understand this might be quite intimidating for many people. What helps is, that there are many visually pleasing front-end solutions available: Github Desktop, GitKraken, Tortoisegit, many more see 1.

Either way, in this article I want to stress the importance of git for the workplace and personal growth. Thus I compiled a few reasons why that is.

Enhanced Productivity

Git offers a multitude of features and capabilities that significantly enhance productivity in the professional work environment. With Git’s distributed nature, developers can work on multiple branches simultaneously, allowing for efficient experimentation and parallel development. This feature empowers professionals to test new ideas without affecting the stability of the main project. Furthermore, Git’s ability to track changes, revert to previous versions, and merge code seamlessly ensures that time is saved on troubleshooting, resulting in increased productivity and faster project delivery.

Efficient Collaboration

I cannot count how many times people called me and asked how they can revert their (Excel-)Files back to the status from this morning or yesterday. The recent version of the Office suite even offers some kind of version control itself.

Collaboration lies at the heart of successful projects, and Git excels in facilitating efficient collaboration among team members. By using Git, professionals can easily share their code repositories, enabling seamless integration of work done by multiple individuals.

Git’s branching and merging capabilities enable concurrent development, allowing team members to work independently on different features or bug fixes and merge their work effortlessly. This fosters a smooth and harmonious collaboration process, minimizing conflicts and maximizing productivity.

Adaptation to Industry Standards

Git has become the de facto standard version control system in the software development industry. Learning Git equips professionals with a highly sought-after skill set, making them more adaptable and valuable in today’s job market. I mean this makes sense when you want to go down the coding or (software) developing road.

I found that the skills you aquire is very much transferable to many other (technical) fields (and the mindset, see the next section). Even for Finance it can be quite a handy tool to have. By learning Git, professionals position themselves for greater career opportunities and increased marketability.

Personal and Professional Growth

Learning Git goes beyond mastering a technical tool. It cultivates essential skills and habits that contribute to personal and professional growth.

Git encourages professionals to embrace a disciplined approach to code management, encouraging them to document their work, write clear commit messages, and practice good coding practices. By adopting these habits, professionals develop their attention to detail, accountability, and overall code quality, which are transferable skills applicable to any field.

Conclusion

We live in an era of AI; digialization is becoming a core focus for more and more companies. Even for those in traditional markets. It is an exiting time for young professionals to start a career in a technical field.

The benefits of learning Git extend beyond technical proficiency, empowering individuals to work efficiently, collaborate seamlessly, and unlock countless career opportunities. By investing time and effort into learning Git, professionals position themselves at the forefront of innovation and set a strong foundation for success in the ever-evolving professional work environment.

This beeing said, my strong oppinion holds: Everyone needs to learn git!