SmartGit: My favorite GUI interface for Git

I wanted to give a shoutout to one of my favorite tools that I’ve been using for the last few years: SmartGit.

SmartGit is a GUI interface to the Git version control system. (I assume that Git itself needs no introduction, but if you’re not familiar with it: It’s one of the best version control systems used in software development.) Actually, the full name of the software is SmartGit/HG, because it’s also able to handle Mercurial repositories.

In the last few years that I’ve used SmartGit, I found it to be a highly reliable, efficient and customizable piece of software. I use it to manage my work repositories, the repositories of my personal projects, and the repositories of open-source projects that I occasionally contribute to; all in all around 30 repositories. I do still use the git command outside of the GUI, for the few custom Git scripts that I have, and of course SmartGit has no problem with that: you can use git in the shell in parallel to SmartGit with no issue.

I can say in confidence that using the keyboard shortcuts provided in SmartGit, I’m able to execute Git commands faster than if typing them in the command line. (I hope not to get into a CLI vs. GUI discussion here… Here’s my take on the CLI vs. GUI matter.)

I’m not going to go over all the features of the program since you can find a good overview of those on the official website, but I’ll add my own two cents: The makers of SmartGit, a German company called Syntevo, have proven themselves to be a great vendor of software development tools. They keep pushing out new versions consistently with new meaningful features. (The most recent one is support for making GitHub comments within the GUI.) Whenever I send questions to their support email their response is quick and helpful, and when I report bugs they are usually fixed quickly.

In conclusion: If you’re a regular Git user, and you’re open to using a GUI interface for Git, I’d strongly recommend downloading the trial version of SmartGit and giving it a try.

Ram Rachum I’m a software developer based in Israel, specializing in the Python programming language. I write about technology, programming, startups, Python, and any other thoughts that come to my mind. I’m sometimes available for freelance work in Python and Django. My expertise is in developing a product from scratch.

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