Project management 0. Git setup

What is Git?

• Git is a version control tool originally created by Linus Torvalds in 2005
• Keeps track of code changes
• Can be used to backup code in the cloud
• Enables cooperation with other team members
• Ubiquitous in software development

Git vs cloud storage

• Git is different from cloud storage services like Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive
  • Instead of automatic syncing, you deliberately push to and pull from the cloud
  • Cloud services are easier for starters
  • …but in projects of more than one person, tracking changes would be a pain
• Git has a steep learning curve
  • To ease things, there are some visual tools like Sourcetree or Sublime Merge
  • To use them effectively, you still need to understand how Git works, though

GitHub

• Git could be used locally, but is usually combined with a remote storage service like GitHub, GitLab or BitBucket
  • These services can also double as a programming portfolio
  • Commonly used in open source projects
• On this course we’ll use GitHub

Setup

• Install Git
  • Windows/Mac: git-scm.com
    • Installation instructions are included in the following slides.
    • If a setting is not mentioned in the instructions, you can leave it as the default option.
  • Linux: sudo apt-get install git

Git setup: Settings for Windows

Set manually after setup with:

git config --global core.editor "code --wait"

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Set manually after setup with:

  git config --global init.defaultBranch main

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Set manually after setup with:

git config --global credential.helper wincred

Command line

• Git is operated via the command line, a.k.a, the terminal.
• See Command line and the environment

Extra: Help, this is horrible!

• Do you feel more at home in graphical UIs?
• If the command line is not your thing, you can also use GitHub Desktop
• It’s a Windows application for working with GitHub repositories
• It will show the Git history as a visual timeline
• Note: Even when using GitHub desktop, it still helps if you understand the Git commands that still are executed under the hood, though!

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Btw: Config

• To configure your Git username for every project:
  • Use git config --global user.name "myUserName"
  • and git config --global user.email "my.email.address@domain.com"
• If you do not do this, Git will ask to do it anyway at some point