This document will help you get everything set up ahead of time so you can follow along with the Codédex "Getting Started with GitHub" workshop on 7/20/23! You can still learn the concepts from the workshop without taking these steps ahead of time, and we encourage you to attend whether you take these steps or not. But if you get all of these things set up in advance, then you'll be ready to start using GitHub right away on the day of the workshop, and you'll have the chance to copy our examples on your own computer while you're there.
If you're not a workshop attendee, hopefully this document can still serve as a general guide on how to start using Git and GitHub!
- Install Git
- Make a GitHub account
- Either set up VS Code integration with GitHub or know how to access the terminal (command line)
- You might need to configure Git
Details below!
Here is an all-around guide to installing Git on any operating system: Git Guides: Installing Git
You can download Git from the official website: Git Downloads
You may already have Git installed be default! To check, you'll need to open a terminal window.
- Check your list of applications for something called Terminal.
- If you have trouble finding it on Mac, read this Apple Support page.
- Different Linux distros come with different terminal applications. If you have trouble finding your terminal appliction on Linux, do a web search with the name of your distro or desktop environment, such as "how to open terminal in Ubuntu 20.04" or "how to open terminal on Raspberry Pi".
- Type
git --versioninto the terminal. - If the response has a version number, then hooray, you already have Git installed! Move on down to section 2, Create a GitHub account.
- If the response says something like "unknown command", then you need to install Git.
Try one of these articles for more detailed instructions:
- MakeUseOf: How to Install Git on a Mac
- Official Git site: Download for Linux and Unix
- MakeUseOf: How to Install and Configure Git on Linux
Git generally does not come pre-installed on Windows. If you want, you can still check whether it's already installed by opening Command Prompt or PowerShell and typing in git --version (see Mac/Linux instructions above). But most likely you'll need to install it now.
For detailed instructions, see How-To Geek: How to Install Git on Windows
If you're reading this document, you're already at GitHub.com right now, so there's the first step completed!
Just click the "sign up" button at the top right of the page. For help, see the GitHub Docs on creating an account.
Both options 1 and 2 will be addressed in the workshop. For beginners, we recommend option 1, using VS Code's Git GUI.
You must complete both of the steps above first (have Git installed and a GitHub account created) in order to follow this section!
If you use VS Code, this will probably be the simplest and fastest way to start using Git and GitHub, once it's set up.
This official VS Code tutorial on GitHub integration will show you what to do. Start by installing the GitHub Pull Requests and Issues extension. Installing the extension should automatically prompt you to connect your account.
The most basic and universal way to use Git is through the terminal command line. If you don't use VS Code, then you'll have to enter commands in a terminal app in order to follow along with the instructions in the workshop. This can be intimidating the first time you do it, so you might want to spend a little bit of time just practicing some basic terminal commands and getting familiar with the experience. Try this Command Line for Beginners guide.
If you're having trouble opening the terminal, check the instructions in the "Install Git" section above.
The workshop will assume that you know how to either open the terminal in a specific directory, or how to use terminal commands to navigate to a specific folder. Read about the "cd" command to learn how to do that.
GitHub Desktop is a separate app you can install that makes it easy to work with your Git repos on your local computer. Personally, neither Vance nor ChoiSauce use this app, so we won't be teaching about it, but I have heard that it can be very convenient especially for newer devs. Feel free to try it out and browse around for some tutorials!
You may need to configure some Git settings before you can start using it. If you want to be on the safe side, run through one of these guides:
Just make a folder with a few text files in it and have it accessible at the time of workshop--the content doesn't matter, it doesn't even need to be code, just anything that you're okay with posting online. Better yet, make sure you know how to open your terminal to that folder. It isn't strictly necessary, but if you want to follow along with our examples in real time, prepping a folder in advance will decrease your distractions.
This is absolutely not required, but here's some extra resources in case you want to "read ahead" and begin learning about Git right now, and then bring us any questions that occur to you while you explore.
- Git Tutorial for Dummies by Nick White is one of my favorite YouTube videos explaining Git. It gives you a pretty solid introduction without going on too horribly long or delving into too many advanced details--just the things you really need to know!
- Official Git website and documentation - the writing is not very accessible, so don't expect to understand every word, but it can be interesting to just skim and start getting used to some of the terminology etc.
If you have trouble with any of the steps in this document, or if you have questions about Git and GitHub that you want us to address during the workshop, feel free to contact me! You can leave a comment on this page (with your new GitHub account!), DM me on Discord (username caesiumtea), find me in the Codédex Discord server with @vance, or check my GH profile for other ways to contact me.