NbGit is a module for the NetBeans IDE that adds support for working with the Git version control system. It uses the JGit library created as part of EGit to interact with Git repositories. Because the module is Java code all the way, it should work better cross-platform modulo platform specific differences, such as file system behavior. It is based on the NetBeans Mercurial module.

Everyone’s up in arms to embrace distributed version control as the new must-have tool for the developer in the know. Though many people have not yet migrated from Subversion, those that have almost invariably extoll the virtues of their particular choice. But though all of the major DVCS’s have features that set them above the previous generation of centralized systems, none stands head-and-shoulders above the others as Subversion does among the last generation: each of them was designed for a specific purpose, and each of them will serve those with different habits, workflows and development styles differently. Having used both git and Mercurial for the better part of a year, I’ve had the opportunity to compare the two. It saddened me to see a Twitter-based debate flamewar erupt over which is better, so I thought I’d do my best to try and ease the tension – with analogies!

Monday’s little diatribe on git seemed to stir up quite a bit of strong opinion, both agreeing with me and disagreeing. As is often the case, they two camps seem to be split about 50-50, which makes me happy. I means I can be confident that I’m not talking complete arse-gravy, but I have a good chance of actually learning something.

And git is crap. No, wait — it is much more than that. It’s not just poor, it’s malicious. When Sauron allegedly poured all his malice into the One Ring, he must have retained some wherewith to poison the sweet well of version control. Ever he seeks to spread discord and confusion — and what better way than by the notions of local and remote branches and various kinds of links between them? Or the distinction between the working area, the repository and the freakin’ index — a concept that we’ve all got along without quite satisfactorily, thank you.

Git is a free & open source, distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency.

Every Git clone is a full-fledged repository with complete history and full revision tracking capabilities, not dependent on network access or a central server. Branching and merging are fast and easy to do.