Git, GitHub, Pull Requests, and code reviews

Why use version control?

Why use version control?

Why use version control?

  • Keep track of changes
  • Backup and restore
  • Transparency
  • Easier collaboration
  • Improved code quality
  • Allow experimentation

Centralized version control

  • Single source with the entire history
  • Local copy with latest version . . .
  • Examples: SVN, Surround

Distributed version control

  • Local copy has the entire history
  • Commit changes to code offline
  • Authorative source (origin) . . .
  • Examples: Git, Mercurial

Git

Git is a powerful tool for managing code changes and collaborating with others on a project.

Use Git from the command-line, or a graphical user interface.

> git add foo.py

> git commit -m "Fixed"

> git push

Basic Git commands

  • git add: adds a file to the staging area
  • git commit: creates a new commit with the changes in the staging area
  • git status: shows the current status of your repository
  • git log: shows the commit history of your repository
  • git stash: temporarily save changes that are not ready to be committed

Working with remote repositories

  • git clone: creates a copy of the codebase on your local machine.
  • git push: pushes changes back to the remote repository.
  • git pull: pulls changes from the remote repository.

Git hosting platforms

GitHub

  • Git repository hosting service
  • Collaborate with others on codebase
  • Fork a repository to work on your own version
  • Pull requests for code review and merging changes
  • Issue tracking and project management tools
  • GitHub Pages for hosting websites

Demo 1

  1. Create a new repository on GitHub
  2. Clone the repository to your local machine
  3. Add a file
  4. Commit the file
  5. Push the file to GitHub

Branching and Merging

  • A branch is a separate version of your code that you can work on independently from the main branch.
  • git merge: merges changes back into the main branch (we will do this from GitHub)

Pull request workflow

  1. Create a branch
  2. Make changes
  3. Create a pull request
  4. Review
  5. Merge

Demo 2

  1. Create a new branch
  2. Make changes
  3. Commit the file
  4. Create a pull request
  5. Get feedback and merge changes

Best practices

  • Commit often
  • Use descriptive commit messages
  • Keep pull requests small and focused
  • Use “issues” to track work
  • Review code regularly
  • Use .gitignore to exclude files
  • Don’t commit data (only very small test data)
  • Don’t commit passwords

Gettings started

  1. Create a GitHub account
  2. Install GitHub Desktop (includes Git)
  3. Create a new repository on GitHub

Resources

Word list

Clone
making a local copy of a remote repository on your computer.
Remote
a reference to a Git repository that is hosted on a remote server, typically on a service like GitHub.
Commit
a record of changes made to a repository, including the changes themselves and a message describing what was changed.
Stage
selecting changes that you want to include in the next commit.
Push
sending changes from your local repository to a remote repository.
Pull
retrieving changes from a remote repository and merging them into your local repository.
Branch
a separate line of development that can be used to work on new features or bug fixes without affecting the main codebase.
Pull request
a way to propose changes to a repository by asking the repository owner to “pull” in the changes from a branch or fork.
Stash
temporarily save changes that are not ready to be committed (bring them back later when needed).
Merge
the process of combining changes from one branch or fork into another, typically the main codebase.
Rebase
a way to integrate changes from one branch into another by applying the changes from the first branch to the second branch as if they were made there all along.
Merge conflict
when Git is unable to automatically merge changes from two different branches, because the changes overlap or conflict.
Checkout
switching between different branches or commits in a repository.
Fork
a copy of a repository that you create on your own account, which you can modify without affecting the original repository.

Summary

  • Version control is a tool for managing changes to code
  • Git is a version control system (software)
  • GitHub is a platform for hosting and collaborating on Git repositories
  • GitHub Desktop is a GUI for Git (and GitHub)
  • Pull requests are a way to propose changes to a repository