Version Control with git (and GitHub)

An introduction for NGA LTER

Liz Dobbins & Adrienne Canino

Introductions

• Adrienne Canino
• Liz Dobbins
• Chris Turner
• Helpers: Kasandra, Ian

You will need …

We will demo, you will follow along, so you need:

• git installed on local machine
• Terminal access (Powershell)
• Text editor of your choice
• Github.com account
• ssh key generated on local machine and installed in GitHub account

etherpad link

Pause and use Zoom to see who has the tools installed to follow along

https://swcarpentry.github.io/git-novice/index.html

What is Version Control?

Credit: Allison Horst

Version control is a system that records changes to a file or set of files over time so you can recall a specific version later.

• collaboration
• management
• transparency
• reproducibility

As a Collaboration Tool…

Credit: Allison Horst

• reuse existing tools
• tools get better over time as people contribute
• ability to adapt to your own needs (forks and branches)

What are git and GitHub?

git	GitHub
Version control system	Web-based hosting system for git repositories
Primarily command line	Graphical User Interface (GUI)
Functions without GitHub	Most popular of several hosting options
Helps you and future-you	Publishing and project management

What Will We Do Today?

Explore this map:

Credit: Allison Horst

• start a local repository and working directory
• track changes to a file locally
• add changes to a staging area and commit them to the local repo
• sync the local repo to and from a remote repo (GitHub)
• practice collaboration using a remote repo

Adrienne’s notes

• Have powershell and gitbash ready
• Touch is ‘ni’ in powershell
• The SSH is indeed tricky, I can demo it quickly but it can’t be a part of our code-along, I think it would just be way too intense
• Then the NGA IM docs as a demo in clone, push, pull