A quick intro to Git and GitHub

Miguel Lazaro-Gredilla
miguel@tsc.uc3m.es

June 2014
Machine Learning Group
http://www.tsc.uc3m.es/~miguel/MLG/

Contents

Introduction
Basic Git
Branching in Git
GitHub
Hands-on practice

Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Git
I

Dont confuse Git with GitHub

I

Git is a version control tool

GitHub provides cloud services using Git

(remote repositories, bug tracking, wiki page...)

1/31

Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Git
I

Dont confuse Git with GitHub

I

Git is a version control tool

GitHub provides cloud services using Git

(remote repositories, bug tracking, wiki page...)

Git is not like Dropbox or Google Drive

I

True version control, not just file history

Need to resort to console sooner or later

1/31

Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Git
I

Dont confuse Git with GitHub

I

Git is a version control tool

GitHub provides cloud services using Git

(remote repositories, bug tracking, wiki page...)

Git is not like Dropbox or Google Drive

I

True version control, not just file history

Need to resort to console sooner or later

Git is not like CVS, Subversion or Perforce

I

There is no need for a central (such as cloud) repository

You can work offline most of the time

Each local copy contains the full repositorys history

Devised by Linus, motivated by Linux Kernel development

1/31

Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Git: General concepts (I/II)

I

Local operations (staging area == index)

Evolution over time

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Git: General concepts (II/II)

I

clone: Clone remote repository (and its full history) to your

computer

stage: Place a file in the staging area

commit: Place a file in the git directory (repository)

push: Update remote repository using local repository

pull: Update local repository using remote repository

add: Start tracking a new file, or stage a modified file

branch: An end point in the commit tree

fork: A copy of another repository for reuse

merge: Combine two commits

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Github: trending repositories

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Github: repository view

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Github pricing

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Set up Git and GitHub

Go to http://www.github.com
and create a user. Choose a nickname you like!

Then go to http://help.github.com, look forSet up Git and

download and install the native app for your platform.

In the process you should also be installing the command-line

tools. The apps arent that good, but keep them just in case.

You should be all set!

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Contents

Introduction
Basic Git
Branching in Git
GitHub
Hands-on practice

Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Cloning a repository
This clones a repository (and its full history) to your computer
$ git clone https://github.com/lazarox/charla.git
I

It creates folder charla (your working directory)

It creates folder charla/.git (the local repository)

Might include text files

charla/.gitignore

charla/.gitattributes

Remote server will be referred to as origin.

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Possible file statuses

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Checking the status of things

Tells you about modified files, untracked files, staged files ready for
commit, etc. Even provides suggestions about what to do next.
Very useful!
Also informs you about which branch you are at (master)
$ cd charla
$ git status
ACTION: Put a file with your name (e.g., miguel.txt) in directory
charla and then check the status

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Start tracking a file

Untracked files in the working directory cant be staged or
committed. You can track a file using
$ git add miguel.txt
Multiple files can be added at a time (dont forget the quotes)
$ git add *.txt
$ git add folder
ACTION: Track the file you just added and check the status
QUESTION: was the previous diagram accurate?
ACTION: Modify the file that you just added and check the status
QUESTION: What if I commit now? How can we avoid that issue?
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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Committing changes
Commit everything from the staging area to the repository (locally)
$ git commit -m I improved all files
The message is compulsory! Otherwise, youd avoid it and soon
forget that commits purpose
Each commit has an identifying SHA-1 hash and comment. You
can roll back to past commits.
You can stage everything that is tracked and commit in a single
step using
$ git commit -a -m I improved all files
ACTION: Commit everything.
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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Removing and moving files

Untrack a file and delete a file, or rename/move a file are
modifications
$ git rm miguel.txt
$ git mv miguel.txt newmiguel.txt
You will need to commit this changes! As any commit, they can be
undone.
If you delete or rename files on your own, Git will notice and youll
still have to stage and commit
ACTION: Delete the file you created, check state, commit

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Browsing existing commits

You can see the list of previous commits with
$ git log
There are many options to filter commits, compare them, see what
was added or removed, etc.
http://git-scm.com/book/en/
Git-Basics-Viewing-the-Commit-History
ACTION: Browse your current commits

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Rolling back a previous commit

You can destructively roll back to a previous commit (as if
posterior commits never happened) with
git reset --hard <HASH> (to move to that commit)
git reset --hard master^ (to move one step back in master)
Or you can move to a previous commit and play around without
destroying anything
git checkout <HASH> (to move to that commit)
git checkout master^^ (to move two steps back in master)

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Working with remotes (such as GitHub)

You can download and merge from the remote repository you
cloned from
$ git pull origin
Or upload your local repository to the remote repository you
cloned from
$ git push origin master
This will fail if the repository is ahead of you. Pull, check
everything is fine, then push. You can force it with
$ git push --force, but that destroys the remote! Never do
that!
To get info about the remote: $ git remote show origin
ACTION: Push your changes. Try an actual merge with collisions!
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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Browsing current changes

Differences between your working directory and staging area

$ git diff
Differences between your staging area and your repository
$ git diff --staged

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Contents

Introduction
Basic Git
Branching in Git
GitHub
Hands-on practice

Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Branching

Each commit has a pointer to its parent(s) commits.

Each branch is a pointer to a concrete commit.

The HEAD is a pointer to the current branch.

When create a new commit, the current branch moves forward

to point to it

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Several commits

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Creating a new branch

$ git branch testing

The current branch is still the old one

Use $ git branch to list existing branches
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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Moving to a different branch

$ git checkout testing

Short-hand for the previous steps: $ git checkout -b testing

You could also checkout commits, and then provide a branch name
Always commit before leaving the current branch!
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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Bifurcations may appear (I/II)

If you now make a new commit while on branch testing...

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Basic merge
Given this structure

you can merge two commits using

$ git checkout master
$ git merge iss53
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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Deleting branches
After the previous merge, we get

since iss53 is no longer needed, we can delete it

$ git branch -d iss53
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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Solving merge conflicts

In case of conflict, no commit occurs. Instead, the working
directory has conflicting files like this
<<<<<<< HEAD
<div id="footer">contact :
email.support@github.com</div>
=======
<div id="footer">
please contact us at support@github.com
</div>
>>>>>>> iss53
Conflicting files are shown on $ git status
To solve conflicts, fix each file and stage it
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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Sample workflow

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Remote repositories
The remote repository and its local snapshot may diverge

Option 1: Pull, solve any conflicts, and then push

Option 2: Use another branch, push it, and issue a pull request
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Contents

Introduction
Basic Git
Branching in Git
GitHub
Hands-on practice

Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Using Issues

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Pull requests

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Progress tracking towards milestones

Other Features: labels, cross-referencing, mark-down, per-line

comments in commits, mentions, gists, etc.

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Contents

Introduction
Basic Git
Branching in Git
GitHub
Hands-on practice

Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Exercise
1. Make sure your local repo is up-to-date (i.e, pull)
2. Dont interact again with the server unless you are told to

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Exercise
1. Make sure your local repo is up-to-date (i.e, pull)
2. Dont interact again with the server unless you are told to
3. Make a branch called myfixName (use your own name) at the
current commit and switch to it

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Exercise
1. Make sure your local repo is up-to-date (i.e, pull)
2. Dont interact again with the server unless you are told to
3. Make a branch called myfixName (use your own name) at the
current commit and switch to it
4. Go to folder fibos and fix only the file with your name on it

31/31

Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Exercise
1. Make sure your local repo is up-to-date (i.e, pull)
2. Dont interact again with the server unless you are told to
3. Make a branch called myfixName (use your own name) at the
current commit and switch to it
4. Go to folder fibos and fix only the file with your name on it
5. There is a bug that requires your immediate attention! Switch
to branch master and pull new files from server
6. Go to folder factorials and fix only the file with your name
7. Push corrections in master to server

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Introduction

Basic Git

Branching in Git

GitHub

Hands-on practice

Exercise
1. Make sure your local repo is up-to-date (i.e, pull)
2. Dont interact again with the server unless you are told to
3. Make a branch called myfixName (use your own name) at the
current commit and switch to it
4. Go to folder fibos and fix only the file with your name on it
5. There is a bug that requires your immediate attention! Switch
to branch master and pull new files from server
6. Go to folder factorials and fix only the file with your name
7. Push corrections in master to server
8. Switch to myfixName and finish corrections in folder fibos
9. Push that branch to GitHub and issue a Pull Request to get
your branch merged
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