Repository — is a repository that stores all files and project change history. In the context of version control systems (SCM /Source Control Management) such as Git, the repository contains all the data needed to track the history of the project, including commits, branches, tags and other metadata.
The word "repository" comes from the Latin word "repositum", which means "storage" or "storage place".
The repository can be local or remote. The local repository is located on your computer and allows you to work with the project even when you are offline. The remote repository is stored on a server (such as GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket) and is shared by multiple developers, allowing easy synchronization of changes between different team members.
The main purpose of the — repository is to store and track changes in project files. Thanks to this, you can return to previous versions of files, compare changes, create new branches for experiments, and also combine them back into the main line of project development. The repository provides a reliable structure for working with the project, regardless of its size or complexity.
Repo or repo type abbreviations can be used during correspondence.
Why is having and using repo so important?
Let's imagine that you are working on a large project and making significant changes to the code by adding new functions. You've been working on these changes for days and everything looks good. But after testing, you suddenly find that the new code has caused a serious problem that disrupts the work of an important part of the project.
If you don't have a repository and backup (made at the right time), you may find yourself in a difficult situation trying to manually return the code to its previous state. It can take a long time and be quite risky, as it is easy to miss some changes or make new mistakes.
However, if you use a repository, the situation is much simpler. Before making changes, you made a commit that saved the current working version of the code. Now that you have discovered the problem, you can simply return to this previous commit using the git checkout or git reverse command. This will instantly restore your project to a state where it worked correctly, without having to manually correct each change.
Or you can simply see exactly what was changed and discover the problematic (new) part of the code. This simplifies debugging.
This approach not only saves your project from serious problems, but also saves a lot of time, since it only takes a few seconds to return to the previous version of the code. Alternatively, you can analyze in detail the changes that caused the problem and understand exactly what went wrong without losing important working time.
You also need to understand that saving your work is very useful with the help of remote repo. Made local changes - let's push (send) them to a remote server (for example, GitHub) and don't worry about something happening to your computer. The computer can break, it can be stolen, etc.
Thus, using the repository allows developers to experiment with code, implement new features, and fix bugs, knowing that they can return to a stable version of the project at any time. This significantly reduces risks and increases team productivity.
This is a fairly basic description of what a repository is (in the context of programming), but I hope that this post will help you understand the question at least a little.
