We’re pleased to announce today
that in addition to supporting the Subversion and Mercurial version control systems, Google
Code Project Hosting now supports Git. Git is a popular distributed version control
system (DVCS) like Mercurial, and it is used by many popular projects including the Linux
kernel and Android.
Now, when you create a project or visit
your existing project’s Administration > Source tab, you have the option of choosing
Git as your version control system. You’ll enjoy all the same great Google Project Hosting
features, like project updates, advanced issue tracking, and an easy-to-use VCS-backed
wiki—only now, you can do it with Git. You can also create an instant server-side clone of any
existing Git repository by clicking the "Create a clone" button on the project’s checkout
page.
For more information, including
an introduction to Git and tips on converting existing Subversion and Mercurial repositories,
see the new Git
section of our support wiki.
Under the Hood
Since our original announcement
of Mercurial
support, Git has grown significantly more popular and user-friendly, and on the
technical side, it has added an efficient "smart" HTTP protocol that fits with Google’s
HTTP-based infrastructure. (Note that this feature is only available in version 1.6.6 and
later.)
Like our Mercurial
implementation, our Git implementation stores object data in a custom data store
built on Bigtable, which provides us
with efficient, scalable source code repositories with near-instantaneous replication to
multiple datacenters around the world. To fit with our existing Python-based system, our Git
server implementation is powered in part by Dulwich.
