#1Gitting Started
Welcome to the Git and GitHub course!
In 2005, a Finnish software engineer named Linus Torvalds ran into a problem while building the Linux operating system. With so many versions of the code, managing everything became a nightmare. So he created Git, a version control system that tracks changes to a project's code.
A few years later, the web platform GitHub launched, founded by Tom Preston-Werner, Chris Wanstrath, and PJ Hyett in San Francisco. Often called the "Google Drive for code," it quickly became the standard way for developers to store, share, and collaborate on code online, with 150 million users.
In this chapter, we'll learn the basic Git commands, take some code from our computer, and upload it to GitHub into something called a repository!
No matter where you are in your coding journey, we recommend posting every project – from that first "Hello World" to a portfolio piece – because every line of code tells a story to the world.
Let's Git started.
#2Check Git Installation
First thing first, quickly check if Git is pre-installed on your computer.
Find and open the Terminal on Mac or Command Prompt on Windows:
git --version#4Installation Guide
If Git is installed, you should see a version number like git version 2.39.3 appear. Good to go!
Note: If you don't have Git installed, don't worry! Download it on your computer following these steps:
For Mac: 1. Visit the Git for macOS page (https://git-scm.com/downloads/mac) 2. Click the Binary installer link, and Git should begin downloading 3. After downloading, open the file and follow the installation instructions 4. Run the git --version command again after installation to verify
For Windows: 1. Visit the Git for Windows page (https://gitforwindows.org/) 2. Click the "Download" button 3. Follow the installation instructions and accept any default settings 4. After installing, open the Git Bash application or Command Prompt to verify with git --version