Git from the Command Line or a GUI? The Right Answer is Both.

The Great Developer Debate

It’s a debate you’ll hear in every development team: should you use Git on the command-line interface (CLI), or should you use a graphical user interface (GUI) like VS Code Source Control, Sourcetree, or GitKraken? Purists will tell you that the CLI is the only "real" way, while GUI proponents will point to the ease and clarity of a visual interface. After years of using both, I’ve come to a simple conclusion: the debate is pointless. The right answer is to use both, leveraging each for its unique strengths.

The Case for the Command Line (CLI)

The CLI is the native language of Git. Every single feature of Git is available through the command line. It is fast, powerful, and endlessly scriptable.

Strengths:

• Speed: Once you learn the commands, typing git ca "Fix bug" && git push is far faster than clicking through a UI.
• Power and Precision: Complex operations like interactive rebasing, cherry-picking, or advanced log filtering are often easier and more precise on the CLI.
• Universality: The CLI is available everywhere, whether you’re on your local machine or SSH’d into a remote server. You don’t need to install anything extra.
• Understanding: Using the CLI forces you to learn what Git is actually doing under the hood, leading to a much deeper understanding of version control.

The Case for the Graphical User Interface (GUI)

A GUI places a visual layer on top of Git, which can be incredibly helpful for understanding the state of your repository at a glance.

Strengths:

• Visualization: Seeing your branch structure as a graph is the number one reason to use a GUI. It makes complex histories immediately understandable.
• Ease of Use for Complex Staging: GUIs excel at staging specific chunks of a file, or even individual lines, for a commit—a process that is more cumbersome on the CLI.
• Conflict Resolution: Modern GUIs often feature powerful three-way merge tools that make resolving merge conflicts far less intimidating than looking at conflict markers in a text editor.
• Discoverability: For beginners, a GUI makes it easier to discover Git’s features without having to memorize commands.

The Hybrid Workflow: My Personal Approach

Most experienced developers don’t choose one or the other; they build a hybrid workflow. Here’s how I work:

I use the CLI for 80% of my daily tasks:

• Quick, simple actions like git add, git commit, git push, and git pull.
• Branching and checking out with git checkout -b.
• Simple merges with git merge.

I switch to a GUI (usually built into VS Code) for specific, visual tasks:

• Staging partial changes: When I’ve made multiple unrelated changes in a single file and want to commit them separately.
• Resolving merge conflicts: The side-by-side view is just clearer and safer.
• Visualizing history: When I need to understand a complex branch history or prepare for an interactive rebase, I look at the graph in the GUI first.

The goal is not to be a purist; the goal is to be effective. Learn the fundamentals on the command line so you truly understand what’s happening. Then, integrate a GUI into your workflow to make complex or visual tasks easier. This balanced approach will make you a faster, more confident, and more productive developer.