GitHub

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GitHub is a cloud-based platform for hosting Git repositories. It adds collaboration features on top of Git — pull requests, code reviews, issue tracking, project boards, and CI/CD via GitHub Actions.

GitHub is the largest code hosting platform in the world, with over 100 million developers.

GitHub vs Git

	Git	GitHub
What	Version control tool	Cloud platform for hosting Git repos
Runs	Locally on your machine	In the browser / cloud
Purpose	Track changes, branch, merge	Collaborate, review, deploy
Required?	Yes (core tool)	No (alternatives exist), but widely used

Getting Started

Creating a Repository

Click New on GitHub.
Name it, choose public/private, optionally add a README and .gitignore.
Clone it locally:

git clone https://github.com/your-username/my-project.git
cd my-project

Connecting a Local Repo to GitHub

If you already have a local Git repo:

git remote add origin https://github.com/your-username/my-project.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main

Pull Requests (PRs)

A Pull Request is GitHub’s mechanism for proposing changes and requesting code review before merging.

The PR Workflow

Create a branch and make your changes.
Push the branch to GitHub.
Open a Pull Request from the GitHub UI.
Teammates review the code — leave comments, request changes, or approve.
Once approved, merge the PR into main.
Delete the feature branch (cleanup).

# Push your branch
git push origin feature/user-auth

# Then open a PR on GitHub via the web UI

Writing Good PRs

Title: Short and descriptive (e.g., “Add user authentication flow”).
Description: Explain what changed, why, and how to test it.
Small PRs: Smaller changes are easier and faster to review.
Screenshots: Include UI screenshots for frontend changes.

Code Reviews

Code reviews are one of the most valuable practices in software development:

Catch bugs before they reach production.
Share knowledge across the team.
Improve code quality through discussion.
Onboard new members by exposing them to different parts of the codebase.

Review Etiquette

Be respectful and constructive.
Explain why something should change, not just what.
Approve when it’s good enough — perfection is the enemy of progress.

Issues

Issues are GitHub’s way to track bugs, feature requests, tasks, and discussions.

Use labels to categorize (e.g., bug, enhancement, documentation).
Use milestones to group issues into releases or sprints.
Reference issues in commits: git commit -m "Fix login redirect (closes #42)" — this automatically closes issue #42 when merged.

GitHub Actions (CI/CD)

GitHub Actions lets you automate workflows directly in your repository. Common uses: run tests on every push, deploy on merge to main, lint code on PRs.

Example: Run Tests on Every Push

name: CI

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
      - run: npm install
      - run: npm test

Key Concepts

Term	Meaning
Workflow	A YAML file defining automated tasks (lives in `.github/workflows/`).
Trigger (`on`)	The event that starts the workflow (push, PR, schedule, manual).
Job	A set of steps that run on the same machine.
Step	A single task — run a command or use a pre-built action.
Action	A reusable unit of work (e.g., `actions/checkout@v4`).

GitHub Pages

GitHub Pages is free static site hosting directly from a GitHub repository. Great for documentation, portfolios, and project landing pages.

Enable in Settings → Pages.
Deploy from main branch, a /docs folder, or a GitHub Actions workflow.

Other Platforms

GitHub is the most popular, but alternatives exist:

Platform	Notes
GitLab	Git hosting with built-in CI/CD. Self-hosting option. Popular in enterprise.
Bitbucket	Git hosting by Atlassian. Integrates tightly with Jira.
Gitea	Lightweight, self-hosted Git platform.

References

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