📒Git is a versatile, open-source version control system designed to manage and track changes in software development projects of any size. 📒GitHub is a web-based platform that provides hosting for software development projects. 📒It offers a range of features to facilitate collaboration among developers. 📒one can use git without github. 📒one cannot use github without git. 📒in this documentation we will be seeing git and github going hand in hand to support for the cause of the open source.
Here's an overview of some key GitHub features and functionalities:
A repository, or "repo," is a container for a project on GitHub. It contains all the project files, including documentation, source code, and other assets like images,videos or textures(anything applicable).
A commit represents a snapshot of changes to a repository. Developers make commits to save their changes and create a history of the project's development.
Fork features allows us to have a copy of the original repository. This allows developers to freely experiment with changes without affecting the original project. Forks can be used for proposing changes to the original repository through pull requests.
Cloning a repository means creating a local copy of it on your machine. This allows you to work on the project offline and push changes back to the remote repository when ready.
Branches are sought of separate development area within a repository. Branches can later be merged back into the main branch. these are created so that there are no conflicts happening with the original codebase and the edited one.
A pull request is a proposal to incorporate changes from a forked repository or branch into the original repository. It provides a way for developers to discuss, review, and eventually merge changes.
Pushing refers to uploading your local changes to the remote repository. This makes your commits accessible to others and updates the repository with your latest work. the changes made at your local machine and sent to remote repository is done using the push command
Pulling refers to fetching changes from a remote repository and merging them into your local repository. It allows you to stay up-to-date with the latest changes made by other developers. the changes made at the remote repository and sending to local machine is done through pull command
GitHub Issues provide a way to track tasks, enhancements, bugs, and other project-related topics. Issues can be assigned, labeled, and discussed, making them a valuable tool for project management. so one can create issues or work on the issues created by others(this is what happens in open source contributions isin't)
The Wiki feature allows developers to create and maintain documentation directly within the GitHub repository. This can include project guides, FAQs, and other relevant information.
GitHub Actions enable automation workflows to be defined directly within the repository. These workflows can include tasks like testing, building, and deploying code.
GitHub provides various insights and analytics features to help you understand and manage your repositories effectively. Some key insights features include:
- Traffic: View traffic data to understand how many visitors your repository is attracting.
- Contributors: See a list of contributors and their commit activity.
- Commits: Visualize the history of commits over time.
- Code Frequency: Analyze the frequency of code contributions to identify active development periods.
- Pulse: Explore the Pulse tab to see a summary of recent repository activity, including issues, pull requests, and commits.
- Graphs: View graphs that show repository activity, code frequency, and contributors.
- Insights: Access insights into your community's engagement and the health of your repository.
#####(1) Best Practices
- Frequent Commits: Make small, frequent commits to keep a detailed and manageable project history.
- Descriptive Commit Messages: Write clear and concise commit messages to communicate the purpose of each change.
- Branch Naming Conventions: Follow a consistent naming convention for branches to enhance project organization.
(2) This documentation provides a brief overview of key GitHub features and functionalities For detailed usage instructions and best practices, refer to the official GitHub documentation.