Git in GitHub

In the following exercise, you will create a GitHub repository to track your code and document your work.
The repository will serve as a central place to store files, keep track of changes, and share your work.

We will assume that you have already worked locally on your project, and are now ready to publish the data.

We will go through the steps together. Please make sure you are logged in to your GitHub account before continuing.

In this tutorial you will

  • create a new repository on GitHub
  • edit files directly on GitHub
  • commit changes with meaningful messages
  • explore the commit history of a repository

Create a new repository

  1. Go to https://github.com.
  2. Click the green New icon in the top-right corner under the top banner of the homepage.

You will now see the repository creation page. You will be the default owner of this new repository. Fill in the following information:

  • Repository name
    Choose a short and descriptive name for your project. GitHub automatically checks if the name is available (it will be if you do not already have a repository with that name, regardless of if others have one), and will indicate availability with a green checkmark.

  • Description
    Add a brief description of what the repository is for.

  • Visibility
    Select Public. This means that everybody can see and download (clone) the repository and its contents, but they cannot change them without your permission. Perfect for sharing data!

  • Initialize this repository

    • Check Add a README file
    • Add a .gitignore and choose the R template
    • Add a license
Tip

Think briefly about your project and what kind of code it will contain.
If you are unsure which license to choose, the website
Choose an open source license provides a helpful overview.

  1. Click Create repository.

Edit the README

After the repository has been created, you will see the README.md file.

  1. Click the Edit (pencil) icon.
  2. Add some basic information about your project (for example, what it does or what it is for).

The README uses Markdown, which you have worked with before.
A short guide to Markdown formatting on GitHub is available here:

https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/writing-on-github/getting-started-with-writing-and-formatting-on-github/basic-writing-and-formatting-syntax

Tip

You can preview how the rendered text will look like before committing the changes to the repository. Click on the Preview button.

Save your changes (commit)

On GitHub, if you edit files and save them you automatically commit them to the git history.

To save the changes to the README:

  1. Click the green Commit changes.
  2. Enter a short commit message describing what you changed (for example, “Add initial README”). Nowadays the Copilot will help you with this.
  3. Select Commit directly to the main branch
  4. Confirm the commit by clicking the green Commit changes button.

Commit messages help you understand what changed and when, and make it easier to find changes later.

View the commit history

GitHub keeps a record of all commits in a repository.

  • Click the button with the clock symbol that says History to open the commit history.
  • Each entry shows the commit message, author, and a unique identifier.
  • Clicking on a commit shows the exact changes made.

Your new repository will only contain a few commits, but older repositories show a more detailed history.
As an example, you can explore the
SLUBI 3bees workshop series repository.

Further resources

If you want a guided introduction to GitHub basics, you can follow this tutorial:

https://github.com/skills/introduction-to-github

It covers repositories, commits, branches, and pull requests. Some of these topics will be useful later as you work more with Git and GitHub.