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WiC x WildHacks GitHub info session

Welcome everyone! Please go to https://github.com/ to create an account and open your favorite code editor e.g. VS Code.

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What We’ll Be Doing Today

✅ Step-by-step guide to basic GitHub usage

✅ Follow along as we go

✅ Ask questions if you run into any issues

✅ Confident? Feel free to work independently using the website below —just let us know if you need help!

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What is GitHub?

GitHub is an online tool that allows developers to manage and collaborate with other developers on software projects.

Why would this be useful?

When it comes to collaborating on projects, multiple people are contributing at once. In order to prevent important work from being lost, we can use GitHub to oversee all changes.

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Step 1: Create a repository

📂 What is a Repository?

A folder that holds related files, images, videos, or other folders

📄 The README File

Provides information about your project
Written in Markdown (simple text formatting)
GitHub lets you add one when creating a repo

🚀 Your First Repo: "hello-world"

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Open GitHub and we will be creating our first repository (yay!!!) 🥳🥳

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Step 2: Create a branch

🌿 What is Branching?

Allows you to have multiple versions of a repository
The main branch is the default branch

🛠 Why Use Branching?

Add new features without changing the main code
Work done in branches stays separate until merged
Great for experimenting before committing (adding) to main

📸 How It Works

Creating a branch takes snapshot of the main branch at that time
If the main branch changes, you can pull updates into your branch

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Step 3: Make and commit changes

📝 What Are Commits?

Saved changes to files in a repository
Each commit has a message explaining the change

💬 Commit Messages Matter

Describe why the change was made
Help other contributors understand the history of edits

🔄 Why Use Commits?

Track project progress
Improve collaboration
Maintain a clear change history

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Step 4: Open a pull request

💻 What is a pull request?

Request for your changes to be merged with the main branch!
Check if there are any conflicts with other branches

🚨 Why are pull requests important?

See your changes and review them with other collaborators before merging with the main branch

🛠️ How it works

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Step 5: Merge your pull request

🔃 What is merging your pull request?

Merge your local changes with the project’s main branch

🤔 Why is this important?

Oversee and resolve any merge conflicts!
Resolve these merge conflicts right on the GitHub website

🛠️ How it works

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Review