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BYU-Hydro 211: GitHub Advanced Concepts
Enrollment is Closed
In this module, you will learn the Git concepts presented in BYU-Hydro-210 more in-depth, as well as how to use Git locally through the command line.
About This Course
In the Github Basics course (BYU-Hydro-210), you learned how to use GitHub and GitHub Desktop to harness the power of git as a version control system. Instead of using the GitHub Desktop Graphical User Interface (GUI), you can also use git straight from the command line. There are pros and cons to using the Command Line Interface (CLI) versus a GUI, and many programmers end up using both as the needs of their projects require. A GUI can help you find more advanced options easier than if you were using the command line (since you don’t need to know all the commands off the top of your head), so it is usually easier to learn, especially for beginning programmers. A GUI also graphically represents collaboration much better than the CLI. It is much easier to see branches, changes to branches, comments, and teammate activity when this information is displayed visually in a GUI. The command line, on the other hand, can be quicker to use once you are familiar with the commands, is the same across any operating system, and allows you to automate tasks (such as updating a remote server every day at 3:00 am). In addition, sometimes the CLI is your only option for a certain task--like if you need to use an SSH to run operations on a remote server. So, although there is a steeper learning curve to using Git in the CLI, it will be beneficial to you to learn and how to use it. In this course, we will review how Git works and related terminology, and then there will be a hands-on exercise using Git in the command line.
Target Audience
Beginner programmers who have been introduced to GitHub or GitHub Desktop
Tools Needed
A GitHub account and a computer with terminal or command line shell
Suggested Time Spent
2-3 hours
Prerequisites
BYU-Hydro-210, or prior experience with using Git through a Graphical User Interface (such as GitHub or GitHub Desktop)