Hi everyone! I'm really new to programming and just created a GitHub account with the hopes of learning how to collaborate on projects and track my code like some experienced developers do. However, I'm feeling completely lost. There are so many terms like branches, commits, repositories, and pull requests, and I don't even know where to begin with all of this! Can anyone point me to beginner-friendly tutorials, videos, or guides? I'm looking for step-by-step resources or any personal advice to help me get started. Thanks a lot for your support!
3 Answers
Think of Git as a library of handwritten books where everyone checks out a book, makes changes, and then submits it for review. This way, while various people work on multiple tasks, the library remains up to date and error-free. Just like that, you make changes in your branch, and once reviewed, it merges with the main branch. This analogy might help alleviate some of the confusion!
Don't get too hung up on GitHub; start by learning Git itself. It's the core version control tool that empowers GitHub. You can practice using Git directly on your machine with a simple text file—just create a file and try committing and merging changes. Once you understand how Git works, transitioning to GitHub will be smoother!
To start, focus on understanding how Git works for individual projects before diving into GitHub's features. Try creating your own repository, cloning it, and practicing the steps for staging, committing, and pushing changes. This foundational knowledge will make everything else easier to grasp as you go along!
Thanks! That analogy really helps clarify the process!