As a programmer, much of our time at work is spent developing code (and attending meetings, of course. ), So much so that we usually spend a lot of time configuring the toolset that we use on a daily basis. We are not only talking about the evolution of the configuration but also about how to configure your new laptop, have several computers, or simply share a certain configuration of a certain tool with a colleague.
The great majority of applications (and more in UNIX systems) are configured through the well-known “dotfiles” (stored in the user’s $HOME), which are not more than files or folders that begin with a . to configure the applications (ex: .bashrc, .git/). The purpose of starting with a dot is that, by default operating systems treat them as hidden files and don’t show them unless you tell them to.