Do you Git it?
A few GitHub Basics
What is Git?
Git is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency. — from — https://git-scm.com/
What this means is that you can keep track of changes in the code of a project whether working on a team or as an individual. Git is able to save past versions and merge files from different team members and much more!
GitHub: About
GitHub is how people build software.
At least, that’s what they have on their website. GitHub exists to support the development community to learn, share, and work together to build software. This article is about GitHub basics, but the most basic thing is the probably that Git is not GitHub and GitHub is not Git.
As mentioned above, Git is a version control system and can be used by many softwares. In fact, you can download it straight in the terminal (on Mac). GitHub is one of the best products for Git. There are a few basic features that you should know about that makes Git and GitHub so great!
GitHub: Repository
A repository is defined as a place, building, or receptacle where things are or may be stored. Git uses repositories to store and track all changes made to your files over time. This creates a history and allows you to recall past versions of your files, which is a great feature when you run into bugs and need to find out where they started.
GitHub is a repository hosting service that adds features to enhance your experience using Git. While Git is a command-line tool, GitHub visualizes the actions and changes that are happening so that you can better track and analyze your project.
Basically: A shared folder that you can upload new files to and other can view and edit those files. ie. Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox.
GitHub: Issues
Issues are a way to talk about problems with the code, share ideas for a specific project, or track bugs. Think of it more as a news feed/to-do list for each project. You can discuss and take note of different topics and then when everything has been committed, you can close and issue! (the to-do list part)
Basically: A social media news feed that you delete when everything is finished.
GitHub: Commits
To throw in more foreign terminology, let’s talk about commits. A commit is just a new version of a file you’re working on. When you “commit” you are saving the new version (remember, we’re saving old versions in the commit repository) with a new ID and a commit message to describe the changes that were made. The commit message allows the group, or just you, to track the changes.
Basically: You’re just saving the file, but it’s a “save as” file and you can add a description so you and others can know why you changed it.
GitHub: Push
In GitHub, or your IDE, you will push a commit. This will send the committed changes to a remote repository on GitHub.com. This allows you to access it from any computer and for you teammates to view and work on the updated project.
Basically: You save your file with a new ID and then put it in your GitHub repository.
GitHub: Pull & Merge
Pulling and Merging are different actions, but are often performed together.
A pull is when you fetch changes to a shared file AND merging them. Merging is more specifically the act of combining the changes to a file. This is often done as a “pull request” where changes are proposed and then accepted or denied by the repository’s collaborators.
Basically: You “pull” the file from the repository to your computer and “merge” the changes from their file and your file.
GitHub: Basically
Basically: GitHub is awesome and will help you and your team keep up with your project and allow you to keep up with changes and save files through version control.
For more information check out GitHub.com.
For more help with definitions and GitHub lingo check out Docs.GitHub.com.
Tip or Quote from Brandon:
Today, I have a quote for you. My favorite quote of all time, which is misquoted by the way, is from Will Durant’s book “The Story of Philosophy.”
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Don’t believe that it’s misquoted? Check out another article on Medium written by Caelan Huntress called My favourite quote of all time is a misattribution.