Glob Patterns

Core Idea

A glob pattern matches path names. Git reads .gitignore patterns to decide which untracked paths to hide from git status.

Pattern	Matches
`*.tmp`	Any path ending in `.tmp`, such as `scratch.tmp`.
`node_modules/`	Directories named `node_modules`.
`dist/`	Directories named `dist`.

* means any amount of filename text. A trailing / means a directory.

Patterns in ~/src/.gitignore apply inside ~/src, not to sibling paths such as ~/public_html.

An ignored untracked file stays untracked. A pattern does not remove a file from Git history or hide a file that Git already tracks.

Shell globs and .gitignore patterns are related, but the shell evaluates patterns in commands while Git evaluates .gitignore patterns.

You can explain why *.tmp hides scratch.tmp from git status.