Introduction

Code version control is a staple of modern software development. So it’s a good idea to learn and practice it now, so it becomes a core element of your software development practice. This appendix covers one of the most popular distributed version control software in use today - Git. It also covers one of the most popular online platforms for hosting remote Git repositories - GitHub. (Hint: Despite the tendency for many programmers to use the names interchangeably, they aren’t the same thing!)

Over the next few sections we’ll take you through the basic concepts of how Git actually works, and then show you the most common workflows you’ll find yourself using with Git.

Key Terms

Some key terms to learn in this chapter are:

  • Version Control
  • Git
  • GitHub
  • Repository
  • Commit
  • Branch
  • Remote
  • Clone
  • Origin
  • Push
  • Pull