Git like Regular Expressions I've "just learned" half a dozen times already but then forget everything and have to "just learn Git" top-to-bottom again and again.

It really is a shame, Git has a great under-the-hood design (excluding poor binary file support), and such a terrible interface/UX that seemingly can never be outright replaced, so we're stuck with a good tool surrounded by needless confusion forever.

My experience is that once you understand the (high level) data structure you're manipulating by using git, you have already made 80% of the way there. I barely know basics of git's interface and have to use tools like `git gui` for anything more complex in my everyday workflow, yet I can manage just fine even when presented with complicated problems, since once I know from the data structure perspective what I want to do, finding a way to do that in git's interface by searching manpages and/or the Web is hardly ever a big issue.

The way to get „git“ is to think about version management as a concept i.e. starting top down. It’s the implementation details of git that many developers get confused about. But they don’t matter.

It’s similar to recursions: You don’t try to understand a recursive function by mentally evaluating it — instead you reflect on its desired return value and how to construct it in the base case.

It is worth the investment to learn advanced Git if you're a software engineer. Start by reading the Chacon book cover to cover. It is a major tool you use every work day, so it's important to understand it.