Git and GitHub. What are they and why use them?

Git is the most commonly used version control system. Git tracks the changes you make to files, so you have a record of what has been done, and you can revert to specific versions should you ever need to. Git also makes collaboration easier, allowing changes by multiple people to all be merged into one source.

GitHub on the other hand is a Git repository hosting service, but it adds many of its own features. While Git is a command line tool, GitHub provides a Web-based graphical interface. It also provides access control and several collaboration features, such as a wikis and basic task management tools for every project.

Git is easy to install. Visit https://git-scm.com and download the latest version for your computer. Install as you would any other program. If you are unfamiliar with command line tools, Git can seem daunting to start with, however, will get easier with use.

The easiest way to start with Git, is to go to your projects directory, click the right mouse button on your projects folder, then left click GitBash here; as shown below.

In order to find what we have in this directory we need to type ls on the command line (ls short for list) and press enter. This will bring up a list of all the directories and files we have in the project.

In order to share this project with others (such as team members) we need to use GitHub. Go to github.com and sign up. Once signed up login to your GitHub account and you will be presented with a screen similar to:

In order to create a new repository (place where all our project files are kept and can then be shared) we just need to left click on the New button. Give our repository a name and short description.

Now we need to decide whether to make our repository public or private.

Public: Anyone on the internet can see this repository. You choose who can commit.

Private: You choose who can see and commit to this repository.

After that decision we should add a .gitignore for Unity. This just stops GitHub from uploading unnecessary files; such as temp and library files.

Next, click on Create repository.