Version Control with Git & GitHub: Collaborative Development

Master Git, the industry-standard version control system, and learn how to collaborate effectively using GitHub. This module covers everything from basic commands to branching strategies, pull requests, and resolving conflicts, essential skills for any modern developer.

1. Introduction to Version Control & Git

Understand why version control is indispensable in software development. Learn the core concepts of Git, including repositories, commits, and the basic workflow of initializing a Git project, adding files to the staging area, and committing your changes.

# Initialize a new Git repository
git init

# Add all changes to the staging area
git add .

# Commit staged changes with a message
git commit -m "Initial project setup"

# View commit history
git log
            

2. Branching & Merging

Explore the power of branching in Git for parallel development. Learn how to create and switch between branches, merge changes from one branch into another, and effectively resolve common merge conflicts that arise during collaborative work.

# Create a new branch and switch to it
git checkout -b feature/new-design

# Make some changes and commit
# ... (edit files) ...
git add .
git commit -m "Implement new design elements"

# Switch back to main branch
git checkout main

# Merge the feature branch into main
git merge feature/new-design

# Delete the feature branch
git branch -d feature/new-design
            

3. Working with Remote Repositories (GitHub)

Extend your Git skills to remote repositories hosted on platforms like GitHub. Learn how to `clone` repositories, `push` your local changes to the remote, `pull` updates from collaborators, `fetch` remote changes, and contribute to projects using `pull requests` for code review.

Module Summary

You've mastered version control with Git and learned effective collaboration techniques using GitHub. From basic commands and branching strategies to working with remote repositories and pull requests, you now possess a fundamental skill set for modern software development teams.

Next Steps & Related Modules

Deepen your understanding of collaborative development by exploring our DevOps & CI/CD Basics module, or apply your version control skills in any of our project-based modules.