I would like to understand the way git works from a architects point of view. How are files stored, how are versions kept and how do changes happen (branches, merges, etc.)?
I am not searching for information how to use it. (I already found a lot of pages with tutorials.) But I did not find any "behind the scenes" details, that would make me understand.
http://eagain.net/articles/git-for-computer-scientists/
http://www.loria.fr/~molli/pmwiki/uploads/Main/gitmanual.pdf Chap 7
For me, the following three resources were very, very helpful, in this order:
The Thing About Git explained why I should even care
Git Magic explained how to get started
Git The Basics [pdf] explained - graphically, and in detail - what happens when I add, remove, merge, etc.
The Git Internals ebook has already been mentioned. I will point out that its author, Scott Chacon, gave a fantastic presentation about git at RailsConf 2008 that covers much the same ground as the book.
Said Scott now maintains http://git-scm.com/, which includes the Git community book, which is more of a usage tutorial than a technical description, but does include both a nice conceptual overview of the git data model in the introductory chapter and a detailed one in its closing chapter.
The US$9 100+ page PDF book from PeepCode called Git Internals is fantastic. It's well written, uses great, clear visuals and is also a quick read. I absorbed as much free online material as I could but this book put me over the top.
Assume we are living in a pre git era. And you want to write a version control system which is fast and better than the existing vcs. All you need is a great idea. At that moment of time the below article would be of much help.
http://tom.preston-werner.com/2009/05/19/the-git-parable.html
I found this site when I googled "git architecture": http://speirs.org/2007/07/19/a-subversion-user-looks-at-git
Git has a mailing list: "majordomo@vger.kernel.org&body=subscribe%20git" (http://git.or.cz/#community)
And this wikipedia article may be helpful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git_(software)
There's a good Google tech talk: Linus Torvalds on git
OK, it's not something to read but it does cover some of the Git internals and design philosophy.
I found these pages useful :
One day I actually sat down and read the entire Git User's Manual. Turned out to be a good idea -- the manual is very helpful, explains a lot, and is quite clear and provides useful examples.
Wikipedia might get you started.
I do remember encountering some documents describing some of the internal architecture, so I know that they are out there. I just can't remember where they were...
There are some interesting documents on the Documentation/technical directory of the git source code.
