Get Started with Git and GitHub

Overview

Git is a version control system. With Git, you can track your changes that you make to your app's source code as it matures and progresses. If you use a version control system like Git, you won't have to worry about losing your app's code; going back to previous changes is a snap.

GitHub is a free website for posting your coding projects online. GitHub makes it easy to share your code with others. Indeed, all of Cytoscape's code is publicly available on GitHub. With GitHub, you can easily take someone else's code and play with it by forking.

In this section, we'll show you how to install Git on your machine and setup a free account on GitHub. Later in the ladder, we'll show you how to submit your app's code to GitHub using Git.

Process

1. Install Git

Windows

• Download the Windows version of Git and install it.

This will install a "Git Bash Shell", among other things. Use this to run Git commands - use Unix commands rather than the DOS commands used in a typical Windows command shell.

Mac

• Start at GitHub

• Download and install GitHub.app

• Launch GitHub.app and start the configuration wizard:

  • Enter your GitHub account info

  • Click on Install Command Line Tools

• Open Terminal and type "git"

• If you are prompted to install Xcode, click Install to continue

• In Terminal, test the installation by typing "git" again

• Finish the GitHub.app wizard

Linux

• Check if git is already installed on your computer by typing "git --version"
• If git is not installed yet, install it with command (on Ubuntu) "apt-get install git"

2. Create an account on GitHub

Creating an account is easy! Just go to https://github.com to create an account.

3. Learn how to use Git

If you're new to Git, we recommend reading Pro Git, chapters 1-3 and 5. The book is fairly short, and it should not take more than a couple hours.