GitHub has become an invaluable platform for developers to store code, track changes, fix bugs, share work, and deploy software. Learning it early in your programming journey will give you a huge advantage!
In this comprehensive guide, you'll learn:
- What is GitHub and why is it so popular?
- Core GitHub concepts and workflow
- How to create, clone, update, and manage repositories
- Branching, merging, and resolving merge conflicts
- Collaborating with team members on GitHub
- Writing clear READMEs and documentation
- Contributing to open source projects
- And much more!
Get pumped - we'll cover everything you need to become a GitHub pro! Let's dive in.
What is GitHub?
GitHub is a web-based version control platform that lets you manage your code and collaborate with others. It provides the following awesome features:
- Git repositories for version control
- GitHub Flow for project collaboration
- Pull requests and code reviews
- Issue tracking and project management
- Documentation and wiki creation
- Web hosting and deployment
GitHub helps developers store different versions of their code, track changes, then collaborate and merge everything together into one final source!
Why GitHub is So Popular
There are many reasons GitHub has become the leading platform for code version control and collaboration:
- Huge open source community - Over 73+ million developers
- Powerful Git workflow for managing code history
- Issue tracking for task management
- Pull requests to propose and review code changes
- Access controls for public, private, or internal repos
- Static web hosting through GitHub Pages
- Ability to follow users and projects, fork code, watch releases, etc.
GitHub brings developers together to build awesome projects efficiently. Let's learn how to tap into its power!
Core GitHub Concepts and Workflow
Here are some key concepts about GitHub and Git version control:
- Repositories - Where your project code and files are stored
- Commits - Snapshots of your repo at a point in time
- Branches - Separate copies of the repo to work on features
- Pull Requests - Propose and discuss changes before merging
- Merge - Integrate branches together
- Issues - Track bugs, tasks, or enhancements
- Organizations - Groups for companies or large projects
The core GitHub workflow goes like this:
- Create a repository for your project
- Developers clone the repo and create branches
- They commit changes frequently to their branch
- When work is complete, they open a pull request
- After discussion, the branch gets merged into the main branch
- Issues keep track of tasks, bugs, and ideas
We'll break down each step along the way. Strap yourself in!
Creating a New GitHub Repository
Repositories are the containers where you store your project's code, docs, and files. Creating one is easy!
First, log into GitHub and click the "+" icon in the top-right. Choose "New repository" and give it a name and optional description.
You can make your repo either public or private. Public is best for open source projects.
Check the box to initialize the repo with a README file. This stores info about your project.
Finally, click "Create repository" and voila! You now have an awesome dev project ready to code.
Cloning an Existing Repository
Instead of creating a brand new repo, you can also clone an existing one to your local machine.
Browse GitHub and find a repository you want to contribute to. Click the "Code" button and copy the HTTPS or SSH URL.
Open your command line and navigate to where you want the local copy placed. Then run:
git clone [copied URL]
This downloads the repo to your computer so you can update code and commit changes!
Adding, Committing, and Pushing Changes
Now that you have a local copy, let's walk through the GitHub workflow for making code changes:
- Edit files and develop features normally
- Check project status and changed files with
git status - Add modified files to staging with
git add [filename] - Commit changes with message using
git commit -m "[message]" - Push commits to GitHub with
git push origin main
Make sure to commit often with descriptive messages! This tracks your incremental progress.
Branching and Merging
Branching allows you to develop features isolated from each other:
- Create a new branch with
git checkout -b [branch-name] - Switch between branches with
git checkout [branch-name] - When work is done, merge branch into main with pull request
Multiple branches let you experiment safely without affecting the production code!
Opening and Reviewing Pull Requests
Pull requests let you propose code changes and get peer feedback:
- Open PR from branch compared to main branch
- Reviewers can comment on specific lines
- Discuss and iterate until approval
- Merge PR to integrate changes into main branch
Carefully reviewing PRs helps maintain code quality and shared understanding!
Resolving Merge Conflicts
Merge conflicts arise when changes on separate branches affect the same part of a file:
- Git highlights where conflicts occur
- Manually edit file to combine changes properly
- Stage resolved file and commit changes
- Push to remote repo once all conflicts fixed
Don't let merge conflicts scare you - take it slow and double check everything.
Collaborating on GitHub
GitHub enables seamless team collaboration through:
- Organization accounts
- Fine-grained user permissions
- Project management boards
- @mentions in issues and PRs
- Code reviews on pull requests
- GitHub Pages for project websites
With collaboration built directly into GitHub, anyone can contribute to open source projects or private team initiatives.
Creating READMEs and Documentation
Every repo should contain a high quality README file explaining:
- What the project does
- Key features and usage
- How to install and contribute
- Copyright and licensing information
- Badges for stats like build status, coverage, and downloads
Ongoing documentation within the repo or on GitHub Pages is also hugely helpful. Don't make people guess how your project works!
Contributing to Open Source on GitHub
The open source community is incredible for learning and collaboration. Some tips for contributing:
- Find projects actively accepting contributions
- Read CONTRIBUTING docs to understand process
- Introduce yourself to maintainers
- Fix bugs, add features, improve docs per project guidelines
- Submit high quality pull requests and respond to feedback
Giving back to open source will accelerate your skills, build your reputation, and let you make an impact!
You're a GitHub Master!
Congratulations friend - you now have the knowledge to leverage GitHub for all your development projects! Commit often, be helpful to others, and happy coding!
