Mercurial
Mercurial is a distributed revision control tool developed by Matt Mackall on April 19, 2005. It is designed for software developers and supports multiple operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, UNIX-like systems such as FreeBSD, macOS, and Linux. Written primarily in Python, C, and Rust, Mercurial provides a command-line interface and is invoked using the program name “hg.” It offers cross-platform compatibility and enables developers to manage their code repositories efficiently.
Git
Git is a distributed system that tracks changes in source code. It was developed by Linus Torvalds on April 7, 2005. Git supports various operating systems such as Windows, Linux, macOS, and Solaris. It is primarily written in C, Perl, and Python. Git is a free and open-source system that eliminates the need for centralized connectivity. It offers powerful and cost-effective branching with easy merging. Each developer has their own repository and a local copy where they can modify the history. Git supports non-linear development branches and works well with large codebases.
The .git directory structure includes the following components:
- HEAD/: Represents the current branch.
- Config/: Contains configuration settings.
- Description/: Provides a description of your project.
- Logs/: Maintains a record of changes.
- Refs/: Holds local branches.
These elements contribute to the effective functioning of Git, enabling efficient version control and collaboration in software development.
| Mercurial | Git |
| Mercurial is simpler than Git. | Git is a little bit of complex than Mercurial. |
| Mercurial was developed by Matt Mackall on 19 April 2005. | It is developed by Linus Torvalds on 7 April 2005. |
| Mercurial written on python, C, Rust language. | Git written on C, Perl, Python, Language. |
| Mercurial does not support Staging. | Git support Staging. |
| It does not require any maintenance. | Git needs periodic maintenance for repositories. |
| Features of Mercurial : A sane command line interface. Safer history with mercurial. GUI support. Windows support. Backwards compatibility. Easy to extend. Commercial support. Hosting tools and services. | Features of Git : Distributed System. Branching. Compatibility. Non-linear Development. Lightweight. Open source. |
| It is faster than Git. | Git is slightly slower than Mercurial. |
| It does not allow to change the version history in which its by default. | Git allow to developer to change the version history. |
| Mercurial support MS Window, UNIX-LIX system, such as free BSD, MAC OSX, and LINUX operating system. | Git support Window, Linux Macos, Solaris operating system. |