GitHub Quickstart
These pages introduce GitHub. GitHub is a website for storing code. It offers storage space, collaborative tools, and version control (the ability to backup versions of code and revert to them). However, it also
offers a great deal more, including free webspace for individuals and projects, and a variety of
data display options. Provided everything you do is Open Source and matches their
rules of use it is free for use.
In terms of interacting with GitHub, most of it is founded on
Git, a version control and collaboration system. You have two choices: either the
desktop software built by GitHub (easy to use and good for day-to-day use) or the command line version of Git
(more powerful, and good for building into scripts for automation). The following materials
cover both, but you should probably decide to start with one or other. You can always swap or
use both later.
For the sections on resolving conflicts, it is easier to work in pairs, but there is no need for
both to be working with the same interface.
Desktop:
- GitHub practical
-
This walks you through the basics of the desktop software: setting up an account; tracking changes;
pushing code to GitHub; pulling from GitHub; sorting out conflicts; advice on passwords; and using
GitHub to build a free website.
- Python debugging practice
-
The last three sections of this site: Unit Tests; Code management; and Continuous integration walk you
through fuller GitHub project management, including making Branches and issuing Pull Requests in GitHub,
along with using
Travis with GitHub for continuous integration (that is, a workflow where you test your code as it
is pushed to GitHub so only code that works is built into projects). There's no GitHub in the Unit Testing
bit, but you'll need it for the Continuous Integration section.
Command Line:
NB: On Windows the command line version can now be found by installing the desktop version
above and selecting CTRL + the single quote key. This will initially get you to install
Git. Alternatively it can be downloaded for all systems from Git directly.
- Software Carpentry materials
-
A very good set of materials from the Software Carpentry group, that walks through the basics including: setting up an account; tracking changes; pushing and pulling to/from GitHub and resolving conflicts. Once you've worked through this, you should definitely check out the desktop tutorials
(especially the page the most important thing about GitHub) and then
use the following to implement the behaviour at the command line:
Some repo examples:
