Git Hard Reset to Commit - CSS

In Git, "reset" is a command used to undo changes and move the current branch pointer to a different commit, essentially allowing you to go back in time. A "hard reset" discards all changes made to the working directory and staging area, effectively resetting the branch to the specified commit.

Why use a hard reset?

There are several reasons why you might want to use a hard reset:

• To undo local changes that you no longer want to keep.
• To undo a commit that has not yet been pushed to a remote repository.
• To revert to a previous commit and start a new branch from that point.

Resetting to a specific commit

To perform a hard reset to a specific commit, you need to know its commit hash. You can obtain this by running the git log command and identifying the commit you want to reset to. Once you have the hash, you can run the following command:

git reset --hard <commit hash>

For example, if the commit hash is abc123, you would run:

git reset --hard abc123

This will remove all changes made after the specified commit, and update the branch pointer to point to that commit.

Resetting to a previous commit

If you want to reset to a previous commit without specifying its hash, you can use the HEAD~<n> syntax to refer to the nth previous commit. For example, HEAD~2 refers to the commit two steps back from the current one. You can then run the same git reset --hard command to reset to that commit.

git reset --hard HEAD~2

Resetting a single file

If you only want to reset changes made to a specific file, you can use the git checkout command instead of git reset. The syntax is similar:

git checkout <commit hash> -- <file path>

For example, to reset changes made to a file called style.css to the commit with hash abc123, you would run:

git checkout abc123 -- style.css

Conclusion

A hard reset is a powerful command that should be used with caution. It can be a useful tool for undoing changes and reverting to a previous state of your repository. However, it permanently removes changes, so be sure to make a backup of any code that you may need in the future. When in doubt, consult the Git documentation or seek advice from more experienced developers.