Global .gitignore

I was today years old when I learned about the possibility of setting a global .gitignore file.

Are you annoyed by people (mostly yourself) adding random files/patterns to repository .gitignore file, such as editor configuration files, temporary files, or tool caches?

Say no more! You can set a global .gitignore file that will be used everywhere.

The steps are really simple:

1. Create a .gitignore file, typically in your home directory:

   touch ~/.gitignore
   

2. Open you favourite editor and add to such .gitignore file whatever file, folder and pattern you always want to ignore.

   My personal configuration looks something like this:

   .vscode
   .env
   **/*.log
   **/dev_nb.ipynb  # (1)
   _typos.toml  # (2)
   
   # caches
   .mypy_cache/
   .ruff_cache/
   

   1. This is a notebook I typically have and use for development, exploration and experimentation. I don't want to commit it to the repository.
   2. Settings for typos: source code spell checker

3. Make git aware of such global configuration by setting the core.excludesFile property to the path of the .gitignore file you just created:

   git config --global core.excludesFile ~/.gitignore
   

4. That's it, you are set and done! 🎉

From now on, every time you run a git command the files and patterns you added to the global .gitignore file will be ignored.

Happy coding! 🚀

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