Laboratory Exercise 1: Introduction to Git and GitHub

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Objective

By the end of this laboratory session, students will be able to:

• Clone a shared GitHub repository.
• Create and switch to a branch from main before making changes.
• Add and modify files.
• Stage, commit, and push changes to GitHub.
• Merge changes back into main.

Prerequisites

• Git must be installed on the workstation (git --version to verify).
• Students must have an active GitHub account.
• A text editor or IDE (Visual Studio Code recommended).

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Laboratory Procedure

Step 1: Configure Git Identity and Credential Manager

Each student must configure their Git identity for this repository only (not global):

git config user.name "Your Name"
git config user.email "your.email@example.com"

Verify your configuration:

git config --list --local

(Optional but Recommended) Configure Git Credential Manager

If you want Git to remember your credentials securely, enable the credential manager:

git config credential.helper manager

• On macOS, you may use the macOS Keychain:

   git config credential.helper osxkeychain

• On Windows, you may use:

   git config credential.helper manager-core

This ensures Git will prompt you for credentials only once per repository and store them securely.

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Step 2: Clone the Repository

Each student will clone the class repository:

cd path/to/your/workspace
git clone https://github.com/2026-DCIT26/LabActivity1.git
cd LabActivity1

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Step 3: Create and Switch to Your Personal Branch

Each student must create a branch named using this format:

feature/<your-student-number>

Example:

git checkout -b feature/201811394

This ensures that every student works on their own branch without affecting main.

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Step 4: Adding and Modifying Files

Add a New File

Create a file named notes.txt:

echo "This is my notes file." > notes.txt

Stage and commit:

git add notes.txt
git commit -m "Add notes.txt file with initial content"

Push the branch to GitHub:

git push origin feature/201811394

Modify an Existing File

Edit README.md using an editor or terminal:

echo "\n## Additional Notes\nThis is an update." >> README.md

Stage, commit, and push:

git add README.md
git commit -m "Update README with additional notes"
git push origin feature/201811394

Students should verify changes on GitHub in their own branch.

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Step 5: Merging Back to Main (Optional / Instructor-led)

After everyone has pushed their branch, the instructor may demonstrate merging one branch into main.

git checkout main
git merge feature/201811394
git push origin main

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Step 6: Verification

Students must:

• Refresh the repository page on GitHub.
• Confirm that their branch (e.g., feature/201811394) exists.
• Check that their commits and files appear under their branch.

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Summary of Commands

Action	Command
Configure identity	git config user.name / git config user.email
Credential manager	git config credential.helper manager (or osxkeychain/manager-core)
Clone repository	git clone https://github.com/2026-DCIT26/LabActivity1.git
Create branch	git checkout -b feature/201811394
Switch branch	git checkout <branch>
Stage file(s)	git add <filename>
Commit changes	git commit -m "message"
Push to branch	git push origin feature/201811394
Merge branch	git merge feature/201811394
Check status	git status
View changes	git diff

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Deliverables

Each student must:

• Submit a screenshot of their terminal showing git log from their personal branch.
• Provide a link to their branch in the repository.
• Ensure that notes.txt and README updates are visible in their branch on GitHub. \n## Additional Notes\nThis is an update. \n## Additional Notes\nThis is an update. \n## Additional Notes\nThis is an update.