daily nerdingGit and GitHub for people who have never used either
Git and GitHub for people who have never used either
Nine steps from installing Git to seeing files on GitHub.com, written so a non-coder can follow.
Start here: step 01 is already open on the map below. Read the panel under it, then press Next stage or click the next box.
Original source
The video
Git for beginners, by The Coder Coder. The nine steps below are built from it. Also on YouTube.
Words on this page
Thirteen terms, in plain words. Skip this if you already use Git from the terminal.
- Git vs GitHub
- Git is a program you install on your own computer to keep a history of your project files. GitHub.com is a website that can hold a copy of that project. Installing one is not signing up for the other.
- Terminal
- The text window where you type commands such as git status or git init. Most steps on this page happen there.
- VS Code
- A code editor. The Git installer asks for a default editor, and this page says to pick VS Code. Typing code . opens the current folder in it.
- Repository
- A project folder whose history Git keeps. On GitHub.com it is the empty box you create in step 08 to hold your copy.
- Commit
- A saved checkpoint of your files, with a short message saying what changed. The list of commits is the project's history.
- Staging
- Choosing which changes go into the next commit, with git add. Edits made after git add are not included until you add them again.
- Diff
- A view of exactly what changed in your files. git diff shows edits not yet staged; git diff --staged shows what is ready to save.
- Branch
- A named line of work. You can step onto a side path, save commits there, then join that work back to the main path.
- main
- The name of the main branch. The installer lets you choose it, and this page says to use main, not master.
- Merge (fast-forward)
- Joining a branch's work back into main. It is a fast-forward when main has not moved since you branched off, so joining is just moving main forward.
- Remote and origin
- A remote is a copy of the project somewhere else, here on GitHub.com. origin is the name you give that address with git remote add origin.
- Push
- Sending your commits from your computer up to GitHub. git push -u origin main sends the main branch and remembers where it goes.
- Clone
- Downloading a fresh copy of a project onto another computer. Looking at your files on GitHub.com is not cloning, and this page does not cover it.
The nine steps
Select a node. Arrow keys move along the path.
Get ready
Your computer
History
The website
Nine steps, in plain English.
Not in this map (on purpose): pull requests, conflicts, pull/fetch, live clone, Pages/Issues/Actions, Desktop/GUI Git, advanced undo/rebase/stash/cherry-pick.
Keys: ← → along the path. Home and End jump to the first and last nodes.
Jump to
Not in this map (on purpose)
Teaching covers nine steps from installing Git to looking at files on GitHub.com. These are left out:
- Pull requests
- Merge conflicts
- git pull, git fetch
- Live clone
- GitHub Pages, Issues, Actions
- Desktop or other GUI Git
- Advanced undo (rebase, stash, cherry-pick)
Attribution
- Git for beginners by The Coder Coder (youtu.be/h2a3Kw-I_Ec). The install settings, commands and the order of the steps are from this video, summarized in plain English.
- The nine-step map, its wording, the glossary and the “Not in this map” list are FakeNerd's.