The git add command in general is used to add changed files in the current working directory to the staging area to tell git which files are going to be a part of the next commit.
The dot in the git add . command is simply a pathspec (which may also be a filepath), that tells git to only look for changed files in the current directory (i.e. it omits paths found in directories above and below). There is, however, one important thing to know about the git add . command:
- In Git v2.x, it stages new, modified, as well as deleted files in the current folder;
- In Git v1.x, it only stages new and modified files in the current folder.
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