Git · Lesson 1 of 6

Git introduction

What version control solves, Git vs GitHub, installing and configuring Git.

Without version control, projects end up as final.zip, final-v2.zip, final-really-final.zip. Git records snapshots of your project, so you can see what changed, who changed it, go back in time and work on features in parallel.

Git is the tool that runs on your computer. GitHub (like GitLab or Bitbucket) is a website that hosts Git repositories online for sharing, backup and team collaboration. Almost every software job in Kerala's IT parks expects you to know both.

Set up once

Install Git, then tell it who you are — this name and email appear on every commit you make.

Example in the terminal

Run these on your own computer

$ git --version
git version 2.47.0

$ git config --global user.name "Anu Kumar"
$ git config --global user.email "anu@example.com"
$ git config --global init.defaultBranch main

$ git config --list
user.name=Anu Kumar
user.email=anu@example.com
init.defaultbranch=main

Lines starting with $ are commands you type; the rest is what Git prints. Names and URLs are examples.

Key points

Git = local tool; GitHub = online hosting.
Configure name and email once per computer.
Version control lets you undo and collaborate safely.

Quick check

Which statement is true?

Git and GitHub are the same thing Git runs locally; GitHub hosts repositories online GitHub is required to use Git Git only works with Python

Practice task

Install Git on your computer, run the three config commands with your own details and check them with git config --list.

Interview corner

What is a distributed version control system?

Every developer has the full repository history locally, not just the latest files. You can commit, branch and view history offline and sync with others later.

Git vs GitHub?

Git is the version-control software. GitHub is a hosting platform built around Git that adds pull requests, issues, code review and CI.