My most important git tip is: use Magit (https://github.com/magit/magit). It really is a huge step forward from using the git CLI — but, unlike many UIs to CLI tools, it actually helps one learn the CLI, but presenting flags and git subcommands. Thus, it both supersedes the git CLI and teaches it, just in case one is ever on a computer without Magit.
Interesting, I tend to recommend people who want to use a UI tool to first learn how to use git from the CLI because many times UI tools are leaky abstraction and sometimes they are flat out wrong and rename concepts. This sounds like it'd be perfect if it wasn't for the emacs aspect of it.
Spacemacs is slow, clunky and always messed up (I tried it 6 months ago and it conflicted with Ergoemacs pretty badly).
Also, _both_ vim and Emacs are horrible UI. Vi was designed for slow terminals and a particular keyboard with no arrows; ghjk for navigation is terrible, always pressing the wrong key. Emacs was designed (C-w) evolved from macros for Space Cadet keyboard with lots of modifier keys. How these two archeological curiosities are still praised for being good modern text editors, escapes my mind.
(I use both vim and Emacs as I enjoy working in terminal, and I hate them both. Sadly, there is no good text editor like Sublime or Atom for console).
I have been using spacemacs and I can't really go back. Some parts are clunky, but it feels like I am riding a battle cruiser. I can literally do anything.
I have gone on the editor search for a while, and now I have settled. Can't be more happy!
The editors I might switch to are Acme, LightTable, or Lamdu, but probably unlikely.
It's more that the people who usually want to use a UI tool are already very UI oriented, so they'll not use emacs or vim. Probably PyCharm, Visual Studio or some other heavy IDE.
A million times this. I started using Emacs (actually Spacemacs) just to be able to learn how to use magit after reading so many people praising it. After around 6 months, I don't even touch the terminal for git, except to do 'git init', which I'm sure there is a way to do from within magit. I donated a bit, and lately I'm thinking of donating something more substantial, >50. Do yourself a favor and try magit for a month with Emacs or Spacemacs, whatever you're most comfortable with. And then maybe do the amazing programmer behind magit a favor, and donate to help him.
Another reason to try emacs for magit/git is the integration with emacs' version control functions. It's very easy to C-x v l to see the log of a file under git, and then use 'd' to see the diff and 'f' to actually look at the full file. This can be helpful when people are still trying to figure out how to use hashes over revision numbers.
