Patterns
- Git course
- Beginner
- Lesson 38/80
- 4 min
Learn the .gitignore pattern syntax.
Matching files with patterns
You can use wildcard characters in .gitignore to ignore multiple files with a single rule. * matches any number of characters, while ? matches exactly one character. These characters allow you to avoid listing every file name separately.
# All temporary files
*.tmp
# One-character variation
file?.txtPatterns determine which items are ignored based on their names.
Directory and exception patterns
You can ignore a directory by adding / at the end of its pattern. For example, cache/ ignores the directory. To override an earlier rule, add ! at the beginning of a line so that a specific file can be excluded from the ignore rule.
# Ignore a directory
cache/
# Keep a specific file
!cache/keep.txtFor an exception rule to work, the file's parent directories must not themselves be excluded.
Practice Create directory and file patterns
Write two rules in .gitignore that ignore the build/ directory and all files with the .bak extension. Each rule must be on a separate line.
Starter code
# Klasör kuralı
# Dosya uzantısı kuralıSample solution
# Klasör kuralı
build/
# Dosya uzantısı kuralı
*.bakExpected output
build/ *.bak
Questions and answers
Review the lesson questions together with their answers. To test yourself, solve the lesson interactively.
1 Which pattern is suitable for ignoring both report.txt and backup.txt?
- file?.log
- backup/
- *.txt Correct answer
- report.txt
Explanation: <code>*.txt</code> matches files with the .txt extension regardless of their names.
2 Use a single-character wildcard
# Yalnızca tek karakter farklılığı olan dosyalar
file____# Yalnızca tek karakter farklılığı olan dosyalar
file?.txtExplanation: <code>?</code> matches exactly one character. Therefore, <code>file?.txt</code> matches names such as file1.txt.
3 Pattern characters
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
* |
Zero or more characters |
? |
Exactly one character |
cache/ |
Ignores a directory |
! |
Overrides an earlier rule |