Git_workflow.md

One of my frustrations about tutorials for Git (and previously for Subversion) is that it is rare to find complete workflow examples that demonstrate how to use the tool on a daily basis. So here is how I use Git (and Github) every day.

These steps assume you want to mostly type in Git commands. There is also a Git GUI, and Git options built in to development environments like Jupterlab and MS VScode.

To start a new project:

I navigate my browser to my home on Github, click on the "Repositories" tab, and click on the "New" button to create a project in my cloud account. I and tick the box that says Add README.md file. I put a few notes in the README file about the project and save it. Now I have a repo with one file.

Then click on the Clone or download button. (If you don't have SSH keys set up with GitHub, choose "Use HTTPS"). Then I click on the little clipboard icon to save the repo URL to my clipboard.

Now I fire up my local Git Bash desktop app. In that window:

cd <to the parent folder that will hold the project folder>
git clone <paste the URL>

Now I can move into that folder and start working

cd <down one level to the project folder>

The first thing I do is copy in my disclaimer.md and license.md files from somewhere else. You can use the ones in this repo. Then I add them, so they will be tracked by Git.

git add *.md

Then I usually start a Jupyter notebook and do some work. Then I add the notebook to be tracked by git.

git add <name of notebook>

When I am done working for a bit, I first "stage" and "commit" the changes, along with a short note, like:

git commit -a -m "completed notebook demoing "

The -a means all changed, tracked files will be staged and committed, and the -m refers to a "memo" or note regarding the commit. That updates the local version of the repo. To update the cloud version:

git push

This is an assumed shortcut for

git push origin main

where origin refers to the target repo, and main refers to the current branch you want to push.

To continue working on an existing project:

On my local computer:

cd <project_dir>
git pull

That will ensure I get changes I may have saved from another computer, like when I work at home. Then I can work on code. If I add a file I want to track:

git add <file_name>

If I want to delete a file and no longer track it:

git rm <file_name>

When I am done for this session...or always at end of day, I use the command that stages and commits all pending changes (locally) with a "memo", and push those changes up to the cloud repo:

git commit -a -m "fixed all bugs"
git push