gitignore

How do I ignore a full directory in .gitignore?

Ah, ignoring a directory in .gitignore is a piece of cake! All you have to do is add the directory’s name followed by a forward slash (/) in your .gitignore file. For example, let’s say you have a directory named node_modules that you want to ignore:

Just open up your .gitignore file and add the following line:

node_modules/

That trailing slash is important; it tells Git to ignore the whole directory rather than just a file named node_modules.

Save the file, and you’re good to go! Git will now ignore the entire node_modules directory, keeping it out of your commits.

Can I ignore “node_modules/” no matter where it shows up in the code base?

Absolutely, you can ignore node_modules/ directories wherever they pop up in your codebase. To do that, you don’t need the trailing slash or any leading slashes. Just write it as:

node_modules

Add this line to your .gitignore file and it’ll ignore every node_modules directory, no matter where it’s located in your project. Simple as that!

This way, you don’t have to worry about accidentally committing all those third-party libraries. Keeps your repo nice and clean!

Do we ever use a wild card like * in .gitignore?

Oh, for sure! Wildcards like * can be super useful in .gitignore files. They help you match multiple files or directories with similar names or extensions. Here are some quick examples to give you an idea:

  • *.log: This will ignore all files with the .log extension, no matter where they’re located.
  • *.tmp*: This will ignore all files that have .tmp anywhere in their names (like file.tmp, file.tmp123, etc.).
  • debug/: Ignores all files in the debug/ directory.
  • debug*: Ignores all files and folders that start with the word debug.

You can get even fancier by combining wildcards:

  • **/logs: This will ignore all logs directories no matter where they are in your folder hierarchy. The ** means any number of directories.

So, yes, wildcards can be your best friend in .gitignore when used wisely. They can help you cover a lot of ground with just a few lines.