diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..84bc868d107179b702448f6a7f0ca094b86a07ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Ignore the most common extra files that can
+# be produced while developing
+# (copy of athena file)
+*~
+*.sw?
+#*
+.DS_Store
+.pydevproject
+.project
+*.pyc
+.asetup*
+.cproject
+*.kdevelop
+#Binary formats
+*.so*
+*.out
+*.exe*
+*.a
+*.la
+*.lib
+*.root
+tmp.*