The Developer's Time Machine

The Developer's Time Machine - Mastering Git and the World of GitHub

Have you ever undertaken a project, made a mistake and wanted to simply tap your keyboard undo on your whole life? Or maybe you have attempted to work together on an office document by sending different versions back and forth via email so that you end up with a file called project final v2 real final.doc.

We address this mess, in software development, by Version Control Systems (VCS). Specifically, we use Git.

Git is the tool used in the industry that serves as a Time Machine to your code. It records all these individual changes that you make, enables you to experiment and not ruin the project that is called the main project and it enables teamwork to be smooth.

1. What is Git? - (The Tool)

Git is a Distributed Version Control System. Contrary to the older systems, each developer possesses a complete copy of the project history on his or her machine.

The Repository (Repo) - This forms your project folder. Git tracks all one has in it.

The Commit - Imaginatively, this is a Save Point. You can commit when you are done with something and leave a message of what you did. In case of breaking things, it is possible to go back to any earlier commit.

Branching - The superpower of Git. To work on a new feature, you can copy the code and make a branch (a parallel version of the code). When the feature is successful, then you revert it to the main project. In case it does not work, then you just delete the branch and the main project does not get affected.

2. GitHub vs. GitLab - The Social Hubs

Whereas Git is the engine, GitHub and GitLab are the garages in which we store and share our engines. These are web-based tools that store Git repositories.

GitHub - The most trendy site on the planet. It is the open source programmer network, where nearly all large projects of open source (such as Linux or React) can be found. It is a high performer in the community features and integrations.

GitLab - A highly robust that is frequently selected by large corporations. It pays significant attention to DevOps and CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) which means that it would generate some built-in tools that will automatically test and deploy your code as soon as you save it.

3. The Basic Workflow

The cycle used by every single developer on Git is similar,

• Clone - Clone a repository in GitHub to your PC.
• Branch - Make a branch of your own task (e.g.git checkout -b fix-login-bug).
• Add and commit - Git informs Git about the files to be tracked and to store the snapshot (git add . and git commit -m "Fixed login error").
• Push - Push the changes on your local system back to the cloud (GitHub/GitLab).
• Pull Request (PR) - Have your teammates to access your code and have them approve it prior to it being integrated into the main project.

Conclusion - Why it Matters

Modern software engineering cannot take place without Git. It offers responsibility (you are aware of who altered what and when), security (you will always be able to revert to errors), and teamwork (you may have hundreds of people working on the same document at a time).

In case you are serious about working in the tech sector, your GitHub profile doubles as your real resume. It does not only demonstrate that you are able to write code, but demonstrates that you understand how to operate in a professional, version-controlled environment.