what is the purpose of a .gitignore file in intellij?

Gitignore is the file used by version control system like Git to determine which files or directories should be ignored while committing changes to the system. It specifically tells the version control system which files or directories should not be tracked, allowing users to keep certain files private and prevents them from unintentionally cluttering up a version control repository. The purpose of a `.gitignore` file in IntelliJ is to allow developers to easily exclude certain project specific files when committing changes.

When using IntelliJ for development, many users often need to set up a .gitignore file due to the number of directories and files associated with their projects. With .gitignore, developers can easily ignore any unnecessary files from being included in source control, such as .iml and .class files, which are not meant for code sharing. Ignoring such files helps maintain clean code repositories and ensures that only important information makes it into the repository regardless of how many changes have been made on the project itself.

IntelliJ provides several templates for creating .gitignore files that apply only to particular types of projects such as C++, Scala or Java projects. Using pre-configured templates speeds up development process by providing developers with a well know format already set up so they can just fill in their individual requirements quickly and correctly right away.

For those unfamiliar with CLI environments, Intellij also provides graphical interface support for creating and editing a `.gitignore` file right inside its IDE by including "Git" section as part of its Settings menu located on top of the main window. By doing so developers can quickly generate a specific gitignore template based on their current project needs without having to fumble around with command lines each time they need to make some changes affecting their source control setup.

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