Newest Posts

Inside Quick Actions

Quick Actions is Tower's version of the Command Palette. Here is everything you need to know about this popular feature, including its origin and capabilities!

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Tower 6.0 for Windows — Branch Comparison

The latest version of Tower for Windows introduces branch comparison for easier code reviews, partial stashing, and many improvements under the hood.

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More Expressive Commits with Gitmoji ☺️

Gitmoji can make your commit messages more expressive (and colorful!) for everyone. Learn how to set it up and start adding a splash of color to your Git history! ☺️

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How Framer Manages Their Codebase with Tower

We sat down with Jonas Treub and Niels van Hoorn from the Framer team to understand how Tower assists them in version controlling the Framer codebase, so that their users can build stunning websites.

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CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery) Best Practices and Trends

Reliable software development is crucial for businesses. Here are the best practices for Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery, courtesy of Facundo from Deploybot.

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Recent Posts

Tower 5.2 for Windows — SSH Signing

With our latest Tower for Windows update, you can easily manage SSH keys and effortlessly sign/verify commits or tags directly from within the Tower application.

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Tower 10.2 for Mac — A New Onboarding Experience

Our latest update brings many quality-of-life improvements across the board — for newcomers and advanced Git users alike.

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Investigating Git History

In this article, we will cover how to determine who performed what action and when using both command-line Git and our graphical Git client, Tower.

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Tower's Guide to Hacktoberfest

Hacktoberfest is here! Learn how you can contribute to open-source projects with our comprehensive guide, covering all the essential aspects of Git and GitHub.

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How To Set Up Apache and PHP from Homebrew on macOS

Learn how to set up a local development environment with Apache and PHP installed from Homebrew running natively on macOS.

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7 Git Mistakes a Developer Should Avoid

In this post, we will explore common Git bad practices that every developer should be aware of and, more importantly, avoid. Here's what you shouldn't do!

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Mastering SEO for Developers

The complete guide for developers looking to optimize their websites for search engines. Learn all the advanced technical SEO techniques to boost your site's visibility!

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Tower 10 for Mac — A Colorful Revolution 🎨

Tower 10 for Mac is here! This big milestone update is also a colorful one, as it brings Syntax Coloring to your diffs and file views! Get your favorite color scheme ready 🎨

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Coming Up on the Roadmap (2023)

What's on Tower's roadmap? Let's peek into the crystal ball and see what's in store for both the Mac and Windows versions!

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Tower 5 for Windows — An Upgraded Committing Experience

Tower 5 for Windows is here! Get ready to take your commit composing to the next level with this pack of exciting new features.

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Setting Up SSH for Commit Signing

In this tutorial, you will learn how to configure SSH for commit signing. We will generate SSH keys, configure Git and GitHub, and effectively sign and verify commits using SSH.

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Tower 9.4 for Mac — SSH Signing

Our latest update allows you to conveniently manage SSH keys and effortlessly sign and verify commits or tags right from within Tower.

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Tower 9.3 for Mac — A New Merge Wizard

If you're tired of struggling with merge conflicts, we've got good news! Tower 9.3 for Mac features a new Merge Wizard that makes conflict resolution a breeze.

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Git and GitHub for Designers

Git isn't just for developers. Anyone who seeks a sane way to track changes of files and collaborate with their teams efficiently can take advantage of Git's enormous power — including Designers!

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Integrating 1Password SSH with Git (and Tower!)

In this quick tutorial, you will learn how to set up 1Password's new SSH agent to perform signed Git operations in Tower!

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How to Improve Performance in Git: The Complete Guide

Is your Git monorepo getting slower and slower? Have a look at all the performance improvements that you can make to speed up your Git repository.

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Tower 4.2 for Windows — More Control Over Diffs

Tower 4.2 for Windows is an update you won't want to miss! Upgrade now for even more control over diffs.

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Mastering macOS

We asked around the office and put together a comprehensive list of the best macOS tips and tricks worth knowing.

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How to Write the Perfect Commit Message

Good commit messages can be very helpful when it's time to navigate through the repository's history. Here's how you can create well-crafted commits with meaningful commit messages!

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Setting Up GPG on Windows (The Easy Way)

In this quick tutorial, you will learn how to easily install and set up GPG on Windows so that you can sign commits and tags in Git.

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Tower 4 for Windows — Hello Undo!

Tower 4 for Windows is here — now you can UNDO a vast amount of actions (such as commits, merges, and file deletions) by simply pressing CTRL+Z.

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10 Useful Git Commands You Should Know

Git is such a powerful tool that there's always more to know. Today, we bring you 10 Git commands worth learning and show you how easy it is to perform them in Tower!

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Mastering Google (for Developers)

We all use search engines multiple times a day, so why not figure out how to get the most out of Google? Here are all the best tips and tricks... for developers!

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Tower 9 — A Brand-New Merge UI

Our latest release brings many improvements around merging, as well as some other heavily-requested features. Here's everything you should know about the new Tower 9 for Mac!

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Getting Started with Git Hooks and Husky

In this fun tutorial, let's see how Git hooks work by creating 5 different hooks with Husky, a popular JavaScript package.

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How We Built an Awesome Git Client for Windows

An in-depth look at the development of the big Tower 3 for Windows update.

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Better File Comparison with Kaleidoscope

A dedicated Diff Tool can be very valuable for any file comparison task. Let's explore Kaleidoscope's powerful features and see how we can use it together with Tower.

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Working with Feature Branches

How to successfully work with Feature Branches: a primer on understanding the most popular branching workflow, identifying base branches, and performing effortless branch comparisons.

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Coming Up on the Roadmap (2022)

What's on Tower's roadmap? Lots of new features. Here's what we have planned for both the Mac and Windows versions!

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The Three Phases of Software Development

Discover the three phases of software development, as depicted through 30 commit messages encountered by our community!

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Mastering Tower (Mac Edition)

Do you want to become a certified Tower for Mac sensei? Master your favorite Git client with our ultimate guide!

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Mac Dev Survey 2022 Results

The 2022 Mac Dev Survey results are in! Learn which technologies, tools and resources developers on the Mac prefer!

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Setting Up Git on Windows Subsystem for Linux

A guide on how to install Windows Subsystem for Linux and get up and running with Git!

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How to Clean Up Fully Merged Feature Branches

Find out how you can delete fully merged branches from a Git repository with confidence — both with the Command Line and in Tower!

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Tower Stands with Ukraine 🇺🇦

We are united against violence. We will be donating all revenue from these items to Save the Children, an organization that supports children from Ukraine and other affected regions.

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Git and GitHub for Marketing Teams

Git isn't just for developers. Anyone can benefit from its enormous power, and that includes Marketing professionals!

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The Great Mac Developer Survey

Are you working as a web or software developer on the Mac? Participate in our short survey for a chance to win over 100 awesome prizes!

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GPG Support in Tower 3.1 for Windows

Tower 3.1 for Windows brings GPG support. Now you can verify the authenticity of every commit or tag directly in Tower!

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Tower 8 - Next-Level Branching

Get ready to work more productively with Branches with the new Tower 8 for Mac.

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The CTO Journey: Ryan Donovan of Hootsuite

Ryan Donovan, CTO of Hootsuite, on the importance of communication, leadership, and rapid onboarding.

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The CTO Journey: Ryan Roemer of Formidable

Ryan Roemer, CTO of Formidable, on studying law and CS, leading a consultancy business, and the importance of writing skills at work!

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Getting Started with Git Bash

A guide on how to install Git Bash and get up and running with Git!

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The CTO Journey: Mark Porter of MongoDB

Mark Porter, CTO of MongoDB, on falling in love with tech, transitioning to a manager, and onboarding new developers!

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10% More Productive: Mastering the Terminal

The Command Line: love it or hate it, it's one of the most important tools for developers. This guide covers everything you need to know to get comfortable with the terminal.

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10% More Productive: Mastering Sublime Text

Are you a Sublime Text user? Here is our collection of tips to become more productive with this versatile text editor. Have a look at the most effective keyboard shortcuts to master, the best themes and packages, and some settings worth tweaking!

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10% More Productive: Mastering the Keyboard

From learning new keyboard shortcuts (or developing your own), to improving typing speed or setting up a hyper key, it's all here. This is our guide on how to become more productive with the keyboard.

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Tower’s Favorite macOS Apps for Front-end Web Development

Curious about the apps we use at the office to keep our websites running smoothly? Here are some of our favorites for Front-end Web Development work!

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Pitch — Developing a Collaborative Presentation Tool for Modern Teams

Pitch is a collaborative presentation tool for modern teams. Our interview with Adam Renklint covers Clojure, the benefits of choosing the right technology, and more.

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Force Push in Git - Everything You Need to Know

In this article, we will answer all the most popular questions surrounding the powerful Force Push command.

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Tower 7 - The New Commit Experience

Say hello to Tower 7 for Mac and its powerful new commit composing experience.

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Finding The Best Text Editor... For You!

How do you find the right text editor for your needs? Our article compares popular alternatives and describes what to look for.

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Sketch — Developing an Industry-Standard Design App for the Mac

The simplicity and focus of Sketch made it an industry standard and set an example for other apps. In this interview, Alexander Repty from the Sketch team talks about development using native Apple frameworks.

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Coming Up on the Roadmap

In this post, we take a look at what's coming up in Tower. Read about features in development, including improvements to commit composing, history views, branch management, and more!

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Tower 3 for Windows Is Coming!

The new Tower for Windows is coming, with a complete visual overhaul, a beautiful dark mode, new features, and a significant performance boost. Join the beta and discover your favourite Git client for Windows in a whole new light!

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Pixelmator — How A True Mac App Classic Keeps Evolving Using Native Frameworks

How does a classic Mac app keep evolving, while also branching out with apps for iOS and iPadOS? Simonas Bastys from the Pixelmator team shares his experience with native Apple development.

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Mac Dev Survey 2021 Results

The 2021 Mac Dev Survey results are in! Learn which technologies, tools and resources developers on the Mac prefer!

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VS Code — The Story and Technology Behind One of the World's Most Popular Desktop Apps for Developers

How do you develop an editor based on web technologies and used by millions of people? Benjamin Pasero from the VS Code team shares his insights on Electron development.

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Tower 6.4 - Publishing a Local Repository

Tower now lets you publish a local repository on a service without ever leaving the app.

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Tower — Developing a Native Git Client for macOS and Windows

Learn about how the team behind Tower develops their graphical Git client natively for both macOS and Windows! This conversation starts off our new interview series on developing for the desktop.

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Git Analytics by Waydev

This guest post from Waydev describes Git analytics and the features of the Waydev service.

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We're Hiring a Content Marketing Developer

The team behind the Tower Git client is looking for someone to work on content creation, growth marketing, and website development.

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Tower 10 Year Anniversary

As Tower celebrates its 10th birthday, we share some facts and numbers from the journey so far.

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Tower 6.3 - Force Push with Lease

Our brand-new Tower for Mac update introduces another highly-requested feature: Force Push with Lease.

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How to Make Debugging Easier with Rollbar

Discover how Rollbar can help you fix errors faster, with intelligent grouping, relevant context and more.

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Tower 6 - The Big Sur Update

Say hello to Tower 6: redesigned for Big Sur - with new icons, new toolbar, new sidebar, and more.

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App Design on Big Sur

Discover the sweeping design changes made by Apple in macOS Big Sur, and how we applied these to the Tower Git client.

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Tools and Tasks in Visual Studio Code

In the second article in a two-part series on VS Code, we look at VS Code's support for tooling, tasks and workspaces.

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New Releases for Tower on macOS and Windows

With already 4 new releases over the summer, it's time to take a closer look at how they will benefit you and make Tower even better.

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7 Tips to be More Productive with »Xcode 12«

It's important to know an application inside out when you spend a lot of time in it. And for most iOS & Mac developers, Xcode is the application they spend virtually all of their time in.
In this article, we've compiled 7 tips that help you become more productive with Xcode 12.

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An Illustrated History of macOS

Step back in time and see how macOS has changed over the years! From the first public beta in 2000 to the release of macOS Ventura, here's our illustrated history of macOS.

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Efficient Editing in Visual Studio Code

In the first article in a two-part series on VS Code, we look at how to edit and navigate your code efficiently.

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Using Git with WordPress — Part 4

In the last article in our series on using version control with WordPress, we look at two plugins that help us handle the database in our workflow.

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8 Reasons for Switching to Git

When it comes to version control, everybody is talking about Git these days. But of course, some chatter on the street is not enough to justify switching to Git. Here are some hard (and soft) facts that make Git great.

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Command Line Cheat Sheet

For many, the command line belongs to long gone days: when computers were controlled by typing mystical commands into a black window; when the mouse possessed no power.
But for many use cases, the command line is still absolutely indispensable! Our new cheat sheet is here to help all 'command line newbies': it not only features the most important commands but also a few tips & tricks that make working with the CLI a lot easier.

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Diff Tools on Windows

Understanding how a software project evolves is hard. However, a good Diff tool can make this much easier. To help you pick the right tool, we've compiled a short list of the best "Diff Tools" on Windows.

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Git for Subversion Users - A Cheat Sheet

Sometimes, prior knowledge can be a disadvantage. For example when you're starting with Git - while trying to approach it like a new Subversion. You'll have to let go of a couple of old concepts before you can understand the new ones.
Our cheat sheet helps Subversion users get started with Git. You can download it for free.

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On-Premise Source Code Management - 7 Git Hosting Platforms Compared

Today, every company is a software company. In any industry, code has become one of the most business-critical assets. As a result, storing, securing and collaborating around code has become an important challenge for enterprises large and small.

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17 Ways to Undo Mistakes with Git

Accidentally deleting files... Making typos in your commit messages... Committing on the wrong branch... a lot of mistakes happen when humans write code! But do not despair: Git offers countless tools to undo and recover from small and big mishaps. Here are 17 videos that help you learn how to save your neck!

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5 Tips to be More Productive with Dash

With today's wealth of frameworks, libraries and platforms, I don't know a programmer who doesn't have to look up things constantly. "Dash", a great little app for Mac OS, solves this problem by providing fast and easy access to over 200 API docs. Read on to learn how to get the most out of Dash!

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Understanding Rebase (And Merge) in Git

This is an excerpt from our new ebook "Learn Version Control with Git". Read the full article in our free online book.

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Version Control Best Practices

Today, version control should be part of every developer’s tool kit. Knowing the basic rules, however, makes it even more useful. We’ve compiled some best practices that help you get the most out of version control with Git.

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The Basic Workflow of Git

When you're starting to use version control with Git, you first need to understand the 'big picture': What does a general workflow look like? Which steps are involved? What do they do? In our infographic, we provide a breakdown of a typical workflow with version control. Download it for free!

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Using Git with WordPress — Part 3

In the third article in our series on using version control with WordPress, we introduce the Composer package manager and use it to handle dependencies.

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Tower 5 for Mac is Here

With version 5, we focused on making Tower’s diff viewer much more powerful - introducing some of the most requested features.

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Using Git with WordPress — Part 2

In the second article in our series on using version control with WordPress, we introduce an improved directory structure and use WordPress as a Git submodule.

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Using Git with WordPress — Part 1

In the first article in our new series on using version control with WordPress, we look at keeping a plugin or theme in Git.

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How We Built Undo

Look behind the curtains of Tower development and learn how the undo feature — introduced in Tower 4.0 on the Mac — came to be.

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Coming Up on the Roadmap

In this post, we want to take a look at the future and give you a glimpse into what's coming up on our roadmap for Tower on Mac and Windows.

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4 New Updates for Tower on Mac and Windows

Over the course of just 4 weeks, we've released 4 new updates: versions 4.4 and 4.5 for Tower on Mac, as well as versions 2.5 and 2.6 for Tower on Windows. Let’s take a look at what these new versions have in store for you!

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How We Work

Having made the switch to fully remote in 2015, the distributed team at Tower shares some insights into remote work culture, challenges and benefits.

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Tower 4.3 - Partial Stashing and First Parent Filtering

The latest Tower for Mac update has some nice new features for you in stock. With version 4.3 we are introducing Partial Stashing and First Parent Filtering.

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What's New in Tower for Mac

With Tower 4 for Mac being out the door, you might be wondering what you've missed since we shipped version 3. The answer: a lot!

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Undoing Mistakes with CMD+Z in Tower 4

There's a little keyboard shortcut that makes life a lot easier - and now it's also available in Tower for Mac: CMD + Z. In our latest update, version 4.0, Tower allows you to undo many Git actions, simply by pressing CMD+Z.

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Become a Better Programmer: 5 Essential Methods at a Glance

Developing software in a professional way is more than just the simple act of 'coding'. To grow as a programmer, you'll have to master other practices as well. We've compiled an overview of 5 tools and methods that are timeless classics by now.

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9 Reasons Why Code Breaks

Sometimes, a simple typo can really be the root of all evil. But more often, the reason why code breaks is more complex. And yet, it can be avoided.

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The Design Manifesto

The Design Manifesto keeps you focused on some of the things design is all about. Find it in wallpaper or poster form here!

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Boosting Developer Productivity Through Linters

Receive instant feedback and catch problems early by checking your code automatically using linters.

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A Decision Tree for Undoing Things with Git

You cannot avoid mistakes - but you can learn to undo them! Check out our decision tree and let it help you find the right Git command to undo your specific disaster.

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Tech Animals

Meet the Firefox, the Swift bird, the PHP elephant, and all their friends. Support a good cause and get your favorite Tech Animal as a T-shirt, poster, or mug. All profits go to charity!

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New in Tower: GPG Support

GPG support has been on our wishlist for a while - and with version 3.5, it finally arrives in Tower for Mac.

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New Releases for Tower Mac and Windows

We are excited to ship new releases for both Tower's Mac and Windows version today. The highlight: on both platforms Tower now offers User Profiles.

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Tower 3.3 - Up to 5x Faster for Large Repositories

In our latest update of Tower for Mac, version 3.3, we focused on a very specific task: making Tower faster when working with very large Git repositories.

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First Aid Kit for Git

Git is a wonderful safety net: it allows you to undo almost anything - but only if you know the right commands and tools! Download our free "First Aid Kit" and learn how to undo your mistakes easily.

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Dark Mode for Tower

Turning to the "dark side" has never been more visually appealing - because Tower is now available in "Dark Mode"!

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The Startup Manifesto

Working (and living) at a startup isn't always easy. Our Startup Manifesto supplies you with enough motivation and good advice to pursue your goals. Take a look and see for yourself.

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Image Diffing & Reflog in Tower

The new Tower is less than a month old - and yet we're already shipping a great new feature: say hello to Image Diffing!

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Better than Ever: The New Tower Has Launched

Today, after years of work, we are finally launching a brand new version of Tower! It’s packed with awesome new features like Pull Requests, Interactive Rebase, and our unique "Quick Actions". It reinvents many existing features like Search, File History, or Blame. And it takes your productivity to a whole new level!

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Now in Public Beta: The NEW Tower

We’re happy to announce that we have another major new version of Tower coming up! The public release is still some time away, but we are starting a Public Beta program today.

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Tower in Public Beta: Here's What's New!

If you're part of the Public Beta for the new Tower, let me start by saying thank you for being part of this journey. We're excited to show the next major version of our popular Git client to the world.

In this post, I'd like to give you a short overview of what's new in Tower.

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Our Development Philosophy (2): Collaboration & Testing

There are lots of books about programming languages and frameworks - but only few resources that deal with "softer" topics like testing and collaboration in a software project. Part 2 of our "Development Philosophy" talks about just that!

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git push coffee me

What's the most important Git command? We can't say for sure, but here's our suggestion: "git push coffee me"...

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Our Development Philosophy (1): Architecture, Design Patterns and Programming Principles

Contrary to popular belief, software development is not about mastering a programming language. The real art begins when application architecture, modularity, and good habits become more important than lines of code.

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A Big Update for Tower for Windows

We're excited to launch Tower for Windows 1.2 - the free update brings a big boost to performance and adds another round of highly anticipated features.

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You might be a nerd if...

Do you qualify for the title of 'Nerd'? We have compiled a couple of sure-fire signals that help you find out!

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Tips & Tricks for Tower - Part 4

In this fourth episode of our "Tips & Tricks" series, we've compiled 5 tips that help you become more productive with Tower. Let's go!

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When it's Time to Start Using Version Control

Sometimes, life gives signals: it wants us to wash the dishes, plant a tree, or simply start using version control. Our (fun) infographic tells you when it's time for the latter.

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Tips & Tricks for Tower - Part 3

In our "Tips & Tricks" series, we'd like to teach you some tricks to become more productive with Tower. Here is episode #3!

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May the Fork Be with You

If Jedi Knights have their own way of saying 'good luck', then why shouldn't software developers have theirs!? Today, we're proud to finally say: May the fork be with you!

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Tips & Tricks for Tower - Part 2

This is episode #2 in our "Tips & Tricks" series: 5 animated GIFs help you become more productive with Tower.

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An Illustrated History of iOS

The iPhone was one of the most exciting new products of this millenia. But as amazing as the device may be, the real superstar is the software that drives it! Take a seat and enjoy our wonderful "Illustrated History of iOS".

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An Illustrated History of Microsoft Windows

Our Illustrated History of Microsoft Windows takes you on a wonderful journey through time: from the first Windows 1.0 in 1985 to the world's most popular operating system that we now know. Enjoy the ride!

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Tips & Tricks for Tower - Part 1

In this first episode of our "Tips & Tricks" series, we've compiled 5 animated GIFs that help you become more productive with Tower. Let's go!

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Optimize Your Websites: Our new Guide is Here

With our goal in mind to help you become a better developer, we're extremely happy to announce a brand-new, extensive and totally free tutorial & ebook for you!

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The Developer Manifesto

Coding is an art. The Developer Manifesto pays homage to the art and profession of software development. Take a look and see for yourself.

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New Year, New Releases - for both Mac and Windows

We’re excited to start the new year with new releases for Tower - both for Mac and Windows. New features, speed improvements, and much more.

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Xcode Cheat Sheet

Xcode is a central tool for many of us. We're spending countless hours with it - and should therefore make sure we're getting the most out of it. That's why we created a nice cheat sheet with both essential keyboard shortcuts and valuable tips & tricks.
Download the cheat sheet for free.

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Chuck Norris and the Mountain Lion

What sounds like the beginning of a (very strange) fairy tale is in fact even cooler: we are launching our own "Tower Stuff Store" with some really awesome T-shirts and posters. And to celebrate the launch, all products are 20% off until December 4th!

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The best Git Client has Finally Arrived on Windows

Today is the day: we are publicly launching version 1 of Tower for Windows! It took us many years of hard work and over 216,000 lines of native C# code - but we're proud to release a beautiful, user-friendly, and powerful desktop client for Git.

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Tower for Windows - Public Beta has Started

The waiting is over: Tower for Windows is in Public Beta! You can now download the app for free and take the new Tower for Windows for a spin.

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Easter Eggs Hunting Season

You might have already heard the big news: Tower is coming to Windows! If you're interested, sign up for the beta to get early access!

Today, however, we'd like to invite you to have some fun - and win awesome stuff!

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Tower 2.5 is Here - 100 Improvements + New Features

It's been more than two years since we've launched Tower 2. Since then we shipped 28 updates with improvements and new features. Today we’re thrilled to announce Tower 2.5 - our biggest update yet. Instead of shipping a paid upgrade, we decided to keep improving version 2 and are happy to announce that Tower 2.5 is a free update for existing users!

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The Average Developer on the Mac

Over 7,000 web and software developers on the Mac took part in our survey - and helped us paint a picture of the "Average Developer on the Mac".

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Now in Beta: Tower for Windows is Coming

After years of hard work, Tower is finally coming to Windows! We are now inviting beta testers from around the world to be amongst the first to test-drive this new Tower version.

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The Best Programming Books - A Post-Santa Giveaway

I hope that Santa was generous with you! But just in case he wasn't: we're giving away three of our all-time favorite programming books!

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Posting to Twitter, Facebook & Co. from Within Your App

Do you want your app to post to social media platforms? In this guest post, Emy Carlan shows you three ways to (programmatically) get your posts out into social media land.

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Git & Tower - A Safety Net for Your Projects

To err is human. And not only this: in our digital industry with its high amount of complexity, it's also very common. With this in mind, it's vital to have tools that help you in case of a mistake.
The Git version control system is one of those tools. Combined with Tower, you'll have a strong safety net for your projects.

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Sketch for Developers

Sketch is a popular graphic design tool for Mac OS. But, unlike the 800-pound Photoshop-Gorilla, it's a design tool that proves valuable for developers, too.

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New Services in Tower 2.3

Cloning and creating repos with a single click - that's what Tower's "Services" manager allows to do. Since Tower 2.3, this is now also possible with your GitHub Enterprise, Bitbucket Server / Atlassian Stash, GitLab, and Perforce GitSwarm accounts!

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Working with CodeKit and Git

Bryan Jones, the creator of CodeKit himself, speaks to us. About using CodeKit and Git side by side. And about his relationship to Git.

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Customer Support Tools: Zendesk vs. Desk vs. Freshdesk

Managing customer feedback is critical to the success of any business. Thankfully, a couple of great tools have emerged to make this easier. In this post, we're comparing three of the most popular ones.

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1 Product - 70 Repositories

For almost 5 years, our team has been working exclusively on a single product: Tower, our Git desktop client. From the outside, one might think that a bare handful of Git repositories should be enough to run the show.
In fact, however, we have over 70 Git repositories to manage. Here's an overview of what powers Tower and our team.

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The Tools That Run Tower

We're a very small company. Actually, with only 8 people, the word "tiny" would be even more adequate. But no matter the size, if you're working together in a team and want to deliver high quality in your work, you need the help of professional tools.

Here's an overview of the toolchain we use while making Tower.

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Learn Git - Submodules & Git-Flow

With over 500,000 readers, our "learn" section is one of the most popular resources for learning Git and version control. To help you get even smarter, we've just added two new chapters - explaining "Submodules" and "git-flow".

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Being More Productive with LaunchBar

The right tools can save you tons of time. One of these tools is LaunchBar.
We'll show you how to be more productive as a developer with this little app.

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Yosemite App Design Checklist

Designing apps for Mac OS 10.10 has its own rules. We've noted some of them in a handy little checklist when we recently updated Tower for Yosemite.

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App Design on Yosemite

Mac OS X has hit the streets with its latest version - and so has Tower 2. We've invested countless hours to fully adapt to Yosemite's new design language. Read about what it takes to make an app feel really at home on Mac OS 10.10.

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Building Your Own Blog

It's 2015 - and yet we just relaunched our blog with a custom, home-made solution. We're well aware of all the great blogging platforms and systems out there. But we had a couple of good reasons to go custom.

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Finding the Right Text Editor

There's definitely no shortage of text editors on the Mac. Quite the contrary: today, developers can choose from more great tools than ever. With this abundance of tools, however, the question is not how to find a "good" tool per se - but how to find the right tool for your needs. Luckily, text editors differ vastly in features and philosophy. By determining what general type of tool you're looking for, your options suddenly become manageable.

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Understanding the Concept of Branches in Git

This is an excerpt from our new ebook "Learn Version Control with Git". Read the full article in our free online book!

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Marketing to Software Developers

Robert Reiz learned the hard way about marketing to software developers. An experienced dev himself, he shares his insights from growing VersionEye, a notification system for software libraries.
This is a guest post in our series "A Word of Advice". We're asking successful developers, designers, and entrepreneurs to share a bit from their experience.

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Switching from Subversion to Git

This is an excerpt from our new ebook Learn Version Control with Git. Read the full article in our free online book.

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5 Tips to be More Productive with BBEdit

BBEdit is one of the most feature-rich text editors on the Mac. Over many years, it has been improved and refined to become the powerful application that it is today. In this post, we have compiled 5 tips that will help you get the most out of it.

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Leave a Task Unfinished

Some mornings, it's really tough to get started. Dennis Reimann, famous for his iOctocat iOS app, has found a nice litte routine that kickstarts his day.
This is a guest post in our series 'A Word of Advice', where we're asking successful developers, designers, and entrepreneurs to share a bit from their experience.

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Don't Do It Yourself

Doing things yourself has many advantages: you can save money, you have everything under control, etc. But it also has some serious downsides. And over time, they clearly came to outweigh the advantages for us!

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Leave Your Office to Find Focus

Did you ever find yourself in a place other than your office that enabled you to be extremely focused on one task? For many, getting work done still means being in the office and in the office only. Even though they have a hard time focusing and being productive. Often a simple change of scenery can help.

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You Only Get a Single Chance

It's common knowledge, almost folk wisdom: 'Go to market as early as possible'. But while this advice is undoubtedly true, there's also a downside to it. Because some people will give your product only a single look.
This is a new post in our series 'A Word of Advice'.

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A Simple Tweak for Making 'git rebase' Safe on OS X

The introduction of the 'Auto-Save' and 'Versions' features in Mac OS 10.7 placed some hardship on Git users on the Mac: new system components don't always play nice with Git commands like 'git rebase'.
However, with a simple customization, problems can be avoided.

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Why Subversion Scares Me

For many users, version control has long been a scary thing. Because committing your code inevitably meant sharing it with the world - imposing all its bugs and flaws on your poor teammates.
However, this is only true for centralized systems like Subversion. In a modern VCS like Git, you can let go of these fears.

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Don't Ask for Money - Ask for Advice

Rasmus Makwarth gives some valuable advice on how to approach Business Angels and VCs. He has successfully raised money for his own company 'Opbeat', a collaborative web operations platform launching January 2014.
This is a guest post in our new series 'A Word of Advice', where we're asking successful developers, designers, and entrepreneurs to share a bit from their experience.

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Increase your Productivity with 'Offline Hours'

As a distributed team with two offices we rely on communication tools probably more than others. Besides email we mainly use Campfire as a team chat and Skype for video calls.
However, this constant availability resulted in way too many distractions each day. If you had a question or problem, you could just jump online. Unlike when sharing an office, you wouldn't know if your colleague was busy or taking a break.

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Bootstrapping a Company (Part 2) - Lessons Learned

In the first part of this series, we talked about why & when you might bootstrap a company - and when you shouldn't. Now, enough of theory: Here's what we've learned by bootstrapping our first product Tower from the ground up.

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Why Sync Will Always be a Tricky Task

Martin Hering, well-known from apps like Instacast and Snowtape, shares some of his experience developing a syncing solution.
This is a guest post in our new series 'A Word of Advice', where we're asking successful developers, designers, and entrepreneurs to share a bit from their experience.

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Git is Not a New Subversion

Basing the decision to buy a car solely on horsepower can leave you with a tank in your garage. Not a very practical "car". Now don't get me wrong: Git has plenty of horsepower, but this should not be the reason to use it in favor of Subversion or any other VCS.
Git isn't just a "new Subversion" that is faster, offline-capable, and somehow "cooler". The interesting parts about Git are where it's completely different from Subversion. These are the parts that change the way you develop software.

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Bootstrapping a Company (Part 1) - Why & When

Building a company without investors comes with many advantages - like keeping all of the shares and remaining free in your decisions. And still: "bootstrapping" is not a silver bullet.
In this first post of our two-part series, we'll explore why & when it makes sense to build a company without investors.

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5 Tips to be More Productive with »Coda 2«

Panic's Coda is one of the most popular text editors among people working with the web - especially since version 2. Besides the obvious features, Coda has lots of little helpers & shortcuts under the hood.
In this article, we'll introduce you to 5 of them - to help you get the most out of the app.

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5 Secret Features of »Chocolat«, the Popular Text Editor

Chocolat is one of the best text editors on the Mac. It combines a very clean interface with a lot of powerful features under the hood. For many, it has become the legal (though unofficial) successor of the popular Textmate editor. We have compiled 5 tips that help you get the most out of Chocolat.

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The Art of Delivering an RSS Feed & How to Avoid Failing Miserably

On first look, delivering an RSS feed seems like a no-brainer. However, it's all too easy to lose ownership of your feed and be locked into a specific service. Or to provoke cross-browser issues. Or to sacrifice search engine optimization...

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10 Steps to Becoming a Ridiculously Agile Developer

As a developer, you can never be too agile! Our infographic shows you some (fun) ways to be as agile as possible.

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How to Plan and Scale a Beta (2/3)

In the first part of our series on "How to Get Your First Users", we talked about the strategy to get the first users for your product. In this second part we will share our learnings on how to best plan and scale a beta up to tens of thousands of users.

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CSS3 Transforms by Example

A new blog needs a little bit of glamour. And since we wanted to play around with CSS3 Transforms for quite a while, we relaunched our blog with a little gimmick: when hovering over the ticket-like items in our sidebar on the left, a little animation brings them to life.

The animation is achieved with CSS3 3D Transform properties. In this article, we'll explain in a nutshell how the flip effect is achieved and will also provide a couple of useful web resources for creating 3D Transforms.

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How to Get Your First Users (1/3)

In order to live, a product needs users. And you’ll rarely have the luxury of users “just being there”. You have to go out and find them - even before your product is on the market.
In this first post of our three-part series, we'll talk about how we found early users for our own product, Tower, before we launched.

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Introducing Git Submodules in Tower

Submodules help you to keep external libraries cleanly separated from your own code. Although generally a great feature, submodules can be quite difficult to work with from the command line. Unfortunately, this causes a lot of people to avoid them and not use them at all. With Tower, we would like to change this.

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An Introduction to git-svn

The majority of projects these days still use Subversion to manage their source code – true to the motto “never change a running system”. Thanks to “git-svn”, however, you can still work with Git locally in such projects.

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Hosting Your Code

Hosting your code becomes an important topic as soon as you want to start sharing it – and be it only with yourself on another machine. There are basically two different flavors of code hosting: do-it-yourself and leave-me-in-peace.

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