Cobolt Version Control System

A modern version control system written in Java with improved CLI aesthetics and full Git integration.

🎯 Key Features

• ✅ Git Compatible: Use Cobolt on existing Git repositories
• ✅ Beautiful CLI: Colored output with Unicode symbols (✓, ✗, ⚠, ℹ)
• ✅ Core VCS Operations: init, add, commit, status, log, branch, checkout <<<<<<< HEAD
• ✅ Tag Management: Create and manage version tags
• ✅ Push/Pull: Works with GitHub, GitLab, and any Git remote
• 🚧 Advanced Merge: Foundation for intelligent conflict resolution
• 🚧 Diff Engine: Syntax-aware diff visualization (coming soon) =======
• ✅ Rich CLI Output: Colored terminal output with Unicode symbols
• ✅ Git-like Architecture: Blob, tree, and commit objects with SHA-1 hashing
• ✅ Branch Management: Create, list, delete, and switch branches

Quick Start

Using with Git (Recommended)

# Use Cobolt on any existing Git repository
cd ~/my-git-project

# Beautiful status output
cobolt status

# Add files with visual feedback
cobolt add .

# Commit with Cobolt's UX
cobolt commit -m "Updated features"

# Push to remote
cobolt push origin main

# Your commits are real Git commits!
git log

Pure Cobolt Mode

# Build the project
mvn clean package

# Initialize a Cobolt-only repository
java -jar target/cobolt.jar init

# Add files
java -jar target/cobolt.jar add .

# Commit changes
java -jar target/cobolt.jar commit -m "Initial commit"

# View history
java -jar target/cobolt.jar log

# Create a branch
java -jar target/cobolt.jar branch feature

Installation

# Copy to bin directory
cp target/cobolt.jar ~/bin/

# Add alias to ~/.bashrc
echo 'alias cobolt="java -jar ~/bin/cobolt.jar"' >> ~/.bashrc

# Use directly
cobolt init

Commands

Repository Management

• cobolt init [directory] - Initialize a new repository
• cobolt status - Show working tree status

Working with Files

• cobolt add <files...> - Add files to staging area
• cobolt add . - Add all files
• cobolt commit -m "<message>" - Create a commit

History and Branches

• cobolt log - Show commit history
• cobolt log --oneline - Compact log format
• cobolt branch - List branches
• cobolt branch <name> - Create new branch
• cobolt branch -d <name> - Delete branch
• cobolt checkpoint <branch> - Switch branches

Coming Soon

• cobolt diff - Show file changes with syntax highlighting
• cobolt merge <branch> - Intelligent merge with interactive conflict resolution

Core Components

Requirements

• Java 17 or higher
• Maven 3.6+ (for building)

Dependencies

• picocli 4.7.5 - CLI framework
• jansi 2.4.1 - Terminal colors
• commons-codec 1.16.0 - Hashing
• java-diff-utils 4.12 - Diff algorithms
• JUnit 5.10.1 - Testing

Building from Source

# Clone repository
cd cobolt

# Compile
mvn clean compile

# Run tests
mvn test

# Package executable JAR
mvn package

Why Cobolt?

Better CLI Experience

• Visual Clarity: Color-coded output for different file states
• Informative Symbols: ✓, ✗, ⚠, ℹ for instant recognition
• Clean Formatting: Organized sections and tables

Git Comparison

Feature	Git	Cobolt
Success messages	Plain text	✓ + green color
Errors	Red text	✗ + red + helpful hints
Status	Basic	Categorized + colorized
Branch list	Simple	Current highlighted

Future: Smarter Merges

Cobolt is designed from the ground up to support:

• Interactive 3-way conflict resolution UI
• Syntax-aware conflict detection
• Smart auto-resolution for simple conflicts
• Multiple merge strategies

Contributing

Core areas for contribution:

1. Diff Engine: Implement Myers algorithm in DiffEngine.java
2. Merge System: Build interactive conflict resolver in MergeEngine.java
3. Remote Support: Add push/pull functionality
4. Performance: Optimize object storage and retrieval

License

MIT License - Feel free to learn from and extend this code.