Orb

A custom implementation of the core Git version control system (orb) written in Go, and a web interface clone inspired by GitHub (orbhub) built with Next.js.

Overview

This project is primarily an ambitious learning exercise aimed at deeply understanding:

1. Git Internals: How version control systems like Git work under the hood (objects, DAGs, index, refs, protocols).

Project Components

1. orb (Go CLI):
   • Goal: To replicate core Git functionalities from the command line.
   • Implementation: Written purely in Go.
   • Focus: Understanding and implementing the Git object model (blobs, trees, commits), content-addressable storage, the index (staging area), refs (branches, HEAD), and eventually networking protocols (HTTP Smart Protocol).

Features (Planned / In Progress)

orb (Go CLI) - MVP Goals

• orb init: Initialize a new .orb repository.
• orb hash-object: Create blob objects from files.
• orb add: Stage file changes (update the index).
• orb write-tree: Create a tree object from the index.
• orb commit-tree: Create a commit object.
• orb commit: Create a commit (combining write-tree, commit-tree, and updating refs).
• orb log: View commit history.
• orb status: Show working directory and staging area status.

orb (Go CLI) - Future Goals

• Branching (orb branch, orb checkout)
• Merging
• Diffing (orb diff)
• Networking (orb clone, orb fetch, orb pull, orb push) via HTTP Smart Protocol
• Networking via SSH Protocol
• Garbage collection / Packing

Tech Stack

• orb:
  • Language: Go
  • Core Libraries: Go Standard Library (os, crypto/sha1 or sha256, compress/zlib, net/http, etc.)
  • CLI Framework: cobra

Git Concepts I’ve Covered

• Understand the Git object model: blob, tree, commit, tag
• Learn how Git stores objects in .git/objects using SHA-1 hashes
• Understand how refs (branches, tags) and HEAD work
• Explore the index (staging area) and how it tracks changes
• Grasp the structure of the commit graph (DAG) and how Git traverses history