Get started using GitHub in less than an hour.
Welcome to "Introduction to GitHub"! 👋
What is GitHub?: GitHub is a collaboration platform that uses Git for versioning. GitHub is a popular place to share and contribute to open-source software.
📺 Video: What is GitHub?
What is a repository?: A repository is a project containing files and folders. A repository tracks versions of files and folders. For more information, see "About repositories" from GitHub Docs.
What is a branch?: A branch is a parallel version of your repository. By default, your repository has one branch named main and it is considered to be the definitive branch. Creating additional branches allows you to copy the main branch of your repository and safely make any changes without disrupting the main project. Many people use branches to work on specific features without affecting any other parts of the project.
Branches allow you to separate your work from the main branch. In other words, everyone's work is safe while you contribute. For more information, see "About branches".
What is a profile README?: A profile README is essentially an "About me" section on your GitHub profile where you can share information about yourself with the community on GitHub.com. GitHub shows your profile README at the top of your profile page. For more information, see "Managing your profile README".
You created a branch! 🎉
Creating a branch allows you to edit your project without changing the main branch. Now that you have a branch, it’s time to create a file and make your first commit!
What is a commit?: A commit is a set of changes to the files and folders in your project. A commit exists in a branch. For more information, see "About commits".
Nice work making that commit! ✨
Now that you have made a change to the project and created a commit, it’s time to share your proposed change through a pull request!
What is a pull request?: Collaboration happens on a pull request. The pull request shows the changes in your branch to other people and allows people to accept, reject, or suggest additional changes to your branch. In a side by side comparison, this pull request is going to keep the changes you just made on your branch and propose applying them to the main project branch. For more information about pull requests, see "About pull requests".
Nicely done! 😎
You successfully created a pull request. You can now merge your pull request.
What is a merge?: A merge adds the changes in your pull request and branch into the main branch. For more information about merges, see "Merging a pull request."
As noted in the previous step, you may have seen evidence of GitHub Actions running which automatically progresses your instructions to the next step. You'll have to wait for it to finish before you can merge your pull request. It will be ready when the merge pull request button is green.
Get help: Post in our discussion board • Review the GitHub status page
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