We do not want to keep track of all files we add in your repository. Think of your compile
classes (*.class), for instance. Would there be a reason to add
those to your repository?
To avoid adding those by accident, we use the file .gitignore.
This is how you describe what git should ignore (source):
# A line starting with # is a comment
# The forward slash / is used as a directory separator.
# Separators may occur at the beginning, middle or end of a pattern.
target/classes
# If there is a separator at the beginning or middle (or both) of the pattern,
# then it is relative to the directory level of the .gitignore file itself.
/Main.class
target/Main.class
# Otherwise the pattern may also match at any level below the .gitignore level.
Main.class
main/
# If there is a separator at the end of the pattern,
# then the pattern will only match directories.
target/
# Otherwise the pattern can match both files and directories.
target
# For example, a pattern doc/frotz/ matches doc/frotz directory, but not a/doc/frotz directory;
# however frotz/ matches frotz and a/frotz that is a directory
# An asterisk "*" matches anything except a "/"
*.class
# A question mark "?" matches any one character except a "/"
?.class
# A leading "**" followed by a slash means match in all directories.
**/foo
# A trailing "**" matches everything inside
foo/**
# A slash followed by two consecutive asterisks then a slash matches zero or more directories.
# For example, "a/**/b" matches "a/b", "a/x/b", "a/x/y/b" and so on.
a/**/b.gitignore for a Java repositoryAdapted from GitHub’s
collection of .gitignore file templates.
# Compiled class file
*.class
# Log file
*.log
# Package Files
_.jar
_.war
_.nar
_.ear
_.zip
_.tar.gz
*.rar
# virtual machine crash logs, see http://www.java.com/en/download/help/error_hotspot.xml
hs_err_pid*For solutions, find your IDE template at GitHub’s collection.