What is GitHub?

GitHub is an online platform that integrates seamlessly with Git, making it easy to store and manage your code. While Git tracks changes to your code on your computer, GitHub takes it a step further by letting you push that code to a cloud-based repository. This means you have a backup of your work, can share it with others, and collaborate from anywhere. It’s like giving your code a home base, where everything is organized and version-controlled.

The best part? GitHub works hand-in-hand with Git’s version control system. So, when you make changes, Git keeps track locally, and GitHub allows you to push those changes to a central place for others to see and contribute. You can clone projects from GitHub, branch off to experiment, and merge everyone’s changes back into a single project. This kind of workflow makes collaboration smooth, and GitHub gives you all the tools—issue tracking, pull requests, and code reviews—to keep your project on track without getting tangled in conflicting edits.

In short, GitHub + Git = easy code management and collaboration, whether you’re working solo or as part of a team.

Signing Up for GitHub

1. Go to https://github.com/ and sign up.

Remember your username because your repository will be at https://github.com/USERNAME

If you are reading this as part of one of my classes, take a screenshot and save it as Lastname-Firstname-github.png