Ignoring files #

You can add a file named .gitignore to the root folder of your repository.

It specifies files that cannot be staged.

This is commonly used to exclude from a repository:

• compiled code (e.g. files with the extension .class in Java),
• dependencies (e.g. the content of the /node_modules folder in a Node.js project),
• IDE-generated files (e.g. the .idea/ folder for IntelliJ),
• OS-generated files (e.g. .DS_Store/ folders for macOS),
• etc.

The .gitignore file uses a dedicated syntax to specify which files should be excluded.

For instance the pattern *.class excludes all files with the extension .class.

Here is a quick tutorial about the syntax of .gitignore files.

This repository also contains a large collection of .gitignore patterns, for different programming languages, operating systems, programs, etc. For instance Java, Maven, VSCode, IntelliJ, Windows, macOS, Linux, etc.