Unveiling Git’s Backend: How It Works and How You Can Build Your Own Version

Git, the distributed version control system, is known for its robustness and flexibility. While most users interact with Git through commands such as git commit, git push, and git pull, many don't realize that Git's internal structure is beautifully designed and remarkably simple. In this blog, we'll take a deep dive into how Git's backend works, exploring the data structures and commands that underpin its functionality. Then, we will see how you can build a simplified version of Git's backend.

1. What is the Git Backend?

At its core, Git is a content-addressable filesystem. This means that instead of tracking files by names or paths, it tracks content through unique hashes. Git stores this content in objects, which can be commits, blobs, trees, or tags. Each of these objects is identified by a SHA-1 hash, which serves as its unique ID.

The Git backend refers to the underlying mechanics of how Git stores, retrieves, and manages these objects. The objects directory within a Git repository is essentially Git’s backend, where all the history of your project is stored.