Github Basics

Question 1

Why does Github exist/why is it useful?

Answer 1

• Version Control: Instead of keeping track of multiple different version of files, Git does that for you
• Collaboration: Allows for many people to work on projects together

Question 2

What is the difference between Git and Github?

Answer 2

Github:
* website/web service where you can do Git operations on the website.

Git:
* Actual version control software/application

(note that both can operate independently from one another)

(Github runs the Git behind the scenes)
(social network for Git)

Question 3

What is a repository/repo?

Answer 3

• A project that can have multiple files associated with it

(note git repos cant have spaces in name)

Question 4

What is a commit?

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Answer 4

• Think of it like a save
• after commiting a file, it is viewable in the repository
• Best to make a new comment for each commit to describe the changes you made

Question 5

How do you view previous versions/history in Github?

Answer 5

You can view history of commits by selecting ‘History’ button to see what changes were made.

Question 6

What is a commit hash?

Answer 6

A unique identifier for a commit you make. It appears in both the URL and next to the commit you make.

Question 7

What is a Github branch?

Answer 7

• When you create a new repo, the history of commits made are on the master branch
• When you make a branch, you are creating a separate path of commits under that new branch
• If you decide to merge branch to master branch, you can do a pull request by doing ‘compare and pull request’

Question 8

How can you view the different branches?

Answer 8

Go to graphs, then network to visualize the branch pathway.

Question 9

What is a pull request?

Answer 9

• Request to merge your branch into the master branch.
• By merging pull request, the branch will merge into the master branch.
• Sending a pull request is you the user sending a request to the repo owner to pull the branch you are commiting

Question 10

What does it mean to fork a repository?

Answer 10

• Taking an entire other instance of a repo and having it under your account
• Forking gives you an exact replica of the entire repository and it’s commit history (so the branches and main branch will be the same)
• If you don’t have permission to edit a file in someone’s repo, github automatically offers to fork it so you can edit your own version of the project.
• Forking will allow you to see the forked repo in your account

Question 11

What is a merge conflict?

Answer 11

When two people make changes to the same lines of code.