Proper definition and usage of Git aliases.

Links:

• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7066325/list-git-aliases/22183573#22183573
• https://gist.github.com/pksunkara/988716

How to set a regular Git alias (note the need for quotes with multi-word values):

$ git config --global alias.a add
$ git config --global alias.cm commit
$ git config --global alias.co checkout
$ git config --global alias.b branch
$ git config --global alias.cb "checkout -b"

after which you can use Git commands like:

$ git a Makefile
$ git cm
$ git cb newbranch

You can also define Git aliases in terms of other Git aliases:

$ git config --global alias.bl blame
$ git config --global alias.bm 'bl Makefile"

after which you could run the equivalent of git blame Makefile with:

$ git bm

What ends up in your ~/.gitconfig file:

...
[alias]
        a = add
        cm = commit
        co = checkout
        b = blame
        cb = checkout -b
        bm = b Makefile
...        

$ git config --global --unset alias.blm

or just edit the .gitconfig file.

$ git alias bu "!git rev-parse --abbrev-ref --symbolic-full-name "@{u}""

The shell command being run does not have to be git.