12 Using GitHub
GitHub is a platform for managing and storing files, data and code built atop Git, a popular open source version control software. GitHub accounts are free and it’s easy to get started. The one prerequisite is that you have Git installed on your local computer. There are installers for Mac, Windows and Linux.
12.1 How It Works
Version control is based on the ideas that you want to keep track of changes you make to a collection of files and that multiple people can work together without getting in each other’s way or having to do things in a set order. For individual users, it’s great for making sure that you always have your work.
GitHub users work in what are known as repositories on their local computers and also push changes to a remote repository located on GitHub. That remote repository is key: if you lose your computer, you can fetch a version of your files from GitHub. If you want to work with someone else on the same files, you can each have a local copy, push changes to GitHub and then pull each others’ changes back to your local computers.
So, like Microsoft Word’s track changes but with a remote backup and multiple editors.
12.2 Getting Started
After installing Git and signing up for a GitHub account, download and install GitHub Desktop. It will have you sign into your GitHub account and then you’ll have access to any existing repositories. If you don’t have any, that’s fine! You can make one locally.
GitHub has good documentation for working in the Desktop app, and while the emphasis in this book will be on using GitHub for version control, it also supports recording issues (read: problems or questions) with your files, contributing to projects that aren’t yours and more.
12.3 Advanced Use
Although our focus is on the GitHub Desktop app, you can use Git and GitHub from your computer’s command line interface, and GitHub has a purpose-built command line client, too. GitHub can also serve as a publishing platform for many types of files, and entire websites are hosted on GitHub Pages.