Glossary · Automation fundamentals, platforms and components
Git
Also known as: Git version control
German: Git
In software engineering, Git is an open-source distributed version control system that records changes to files as commits, supports branching and merging, and gives every clone a full copy of the history.
- Automation components
In one sentence
Git is an open-source distributed version control system that records changes as commits and supports branching and merging.
Example
The PLC team exports its project to text files, commits them to a Git repository and reviews every change in a merge request before release.
How it applies
- Engineering: Git is standard for IT software and increasingly used for PLC code, especially where engineering tools can store projects as text (for example PLCopen XML or structured text). Binary project files limit diff and merge.
- Change control: Commits, tags and reviewed merges provide traceable history, which supports Configuration control.
- Documentation: Documentation teams using docs-as-code keep source files in Git next to the software, which lets documentation versions follow software releases. Describe the branching and tagging conventions so readers can match a manual to a release.
Git vs. GitHub
Git is the version control tool. GitHub, GitLab and similar services are hosting platforms built around Git with added features such as issues and pipelines. Features of these platforms change and should be checked in their current documentation.