SystemsNov 07, 2026 · 10 min read
How Git Actually Works: Fingerprints, Snapshots and a 41-Byte Branch
Git doesn't store your changes. It keeps a small database of objects, each named by a fingerprint of its content. Open the .git folder with real hashes and you can explain what a commit saves, why its ID looks random, and why a new branch costs 41 bytes.
