Getting Started with GitHub

🐙 GitHub is where your project lives online. It works with Git (your version control tool) to help you back up code, collaborate with others, and track changes over time.

This guide introduces basic GitHub terms and features, aimed at beginners using the template-project.

🌐 Git vs GitHub

Git is the version control tool you use on your own computer to track file changes.
GitHub is a website that hosts your Git repositories in the cloud and helps people collaborate.

📦 What Is a Repository?

A repository (or “repo”) is your project folder, tracked by Git and stored on GitHub. It contains:

Your code
Documentation and data files
A commit history of changes
Settings for issues, automation, and more

Each repo has a main branch, and often other branches used for development.

🍴 What Is a Fork?

If you want to suggest changes to someone else’s project (like this one!), you start by creating a fork:

A fork is your own personal copy of someone else’s repo, under your account.
You can make changes in your fork without affecting the original project.

To propose those changes back, you’ll open a pull request.

🌿 What Is a Branch?

A branch is a version of your repo you can safely experiment on:

The default branch is main
You create a new branch like fix-typo or add-feature

Once you’re done, you merge the branch back into main.

🔁 What Is a Pull Request?

A pull request (PR):

Proposes changes from one branch into another
Shows what changed, side-by-side
Allows conversation and review
Often triggers automated checks (like running tests)

You can open PRs even in your own repo to keep track of your edits.

🐛 What Are Issues?

Issues are GitHub’s way to track:

Bugs
Feature ideas
To-do lists or questions

Each issue can be labeled, assigned to someone, and linked to a PR.

⚙️ What Are GitHub Actions?

GitHub Actions automate things like:

Running tests when code is pushed
Building your documentation
Publishing your project to PyPI

They live in .github/workflows/.

🖥 GitHub Desktop (Optional)

GitHub Desktop is a free app that lets you:

Clone repositories
Create branches
Commit changes
Push to GitHub — all without using the terminal.

📥 Download GitHub Desktop