Learning Git and GitHub

1. Use GitHub Desktop to create a new repository by selecting File > New Repository

2. Open and view your repository in Windows Explorer

3. Open and view your repository in your code editor

4. Add a file and make some changes

1. Make some changes to one of your files

2. Review the changes in GitHub desktop

3. Add a commit to "save" the changes to your repository

4. Use the "Discard Changes" command to "undo" changes

To undo changes:

1. Make and commit some changes

2. In GitHub Desktop, select the "History" tab in the commits pane

3. Choose a commit to undo, right click, and select either "undo commit" or "revert changes in commit"

   Undo Commit

   Deletes the commit but not the changes. The changed files are now staged for a new commit.

   Revert Changes in Commit

   Creates a brand-new commit that reverses the changes that were made. No files are staged for commit.

To "squash" commits:

1. Find two commits you want to "squash"

2. Drag one of them on top of the other

3. Choose a new commit message for the combined commits

To publish to GitHub:

1. In GitHub Desktop, click the "Publish repository" button

2. Choose a repository name and location

To synchronize changes with GitHub:

• Click the "Fetch origin" button to check for changes

• Click the "Push origin" button to copy updates from your PC to GitHub

• Click the "Pull origin" button to copy updates from GitHub to your PC

1. For files that cannot be modified with a text editor (example: *.exe files), choose which version you would like to keep.

2. For files that can be modified with a text editor (example: code files)

   1. Open the file in any text editor (I recommend VS Code, see above)

   2. Find the sections that are surrounded by carats (<<<<<<< ... >>>>>>)

   3. Decide which code you want to keep, or rewrite the code to combine the differences

   4. Delete the carats that surround your fixed code

   5. Make sure the file is saved

   6. Continue with the merge

   7. Push origin as needed

To create a branch:

1. In GitHub Desktop, select Branch → New Branch in the toolbar

   • Or you can click the "Current Branch" button and select "New Branch"

2. Name your branch

To switch between branches:

In GitHub Desktop, select the "Current Branch" drop-down and choose the branch you want to view

1. Select the "Preview Pull Request" option from the menu, and

2. Resolve any merge conflicts (see lesson 5 above)

3. Create a pull request

4. Merge the pull request. Make sure that your comments and title are descriptive.

5. Delete your branch (both on local and on cloud) if you are done with it

To clone a repository

1. In GitHub Desktop, choose File → Clone repository

2. if you already have access to this repository, you may be able to choose it from the list

3. You can also paste a web link using the "URL" tab of the clone window

To fork a repository:

1. Find the repository you want to make a copy of (on GitHub.com)

2. Select the Fork button in the upper right hand corner of the screen

3. Follow the steps above to clone the new repository to your PC

1. In the History panel of GitHub Desktop, find the commit you want to view

2. Right-Click, and select "Create branch from commit"

3. Name the branch appropriately

1. Make sure you are in the branch that contains the commit you want to cherry-pick

2. Right-click on a commit and select "Cherry pick"

3. Choose the branch you want to pick it into

4. Resolve any conflict