👋 Lab Git & GitHub Onboarding

Welcome! Before contributing to lab repositories, please complete this short Git & GitHub tutorial.

The most important goal is to learn how to keep your work safely backed up using GitHub.

A good habit is to commit and push your code at the end of every work day.

By the end of this tutorial, you will know how to:

• Create a GitHub account
• Clone a repository
• Edit files in a repository
• Commit changes
• Push changes to GitHub

Later you will typically create your own repository for your projects and use GitHub as a backup and version history.

Most students use Mac + PyCharm, but we start with the command line workflow because it works everywhere.

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What are Git and GitHub?

Git is a version control system. It tracks changes to files over time and allows you to return to earlier versions of your code.

Key ideas:

• A repository stores a project and its history.
• A commit records a snapshot of your changes.
• You can always go back to previous commits.

GitHub is a website that hosts Git repositories online.
This allows you to:

• back up your code
• work across multiple computers
• collaborate with others

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Step 0 — Create a GitHub Account

1. Go to https://github.com
2. Create an account using your academic email
3. Send your GitHub username to the lab admin (currently Roey) so you can be added to the organization

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Step 1 — Complete the GitHub "Hello World" Tutorial

Before continuing, complete the official GitHub beginner tutorial:

https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/start-your-journey/hello-world

This tutorial introduces:

• repositories
• commits
• branches
• pull requests

Once you finish it, return here to continue.

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Step 1.5 — Opening a Terminal

Many commands in this tutorial are run in a terminal (also called a command line).

Mac

Press Command + Space, type Terminal, and press Enter.

Alternatively:

Finder → Applications → Utilities → Terminal

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Windows

You can use Command Prompt or PowerShell.

Option 1 — Command Prompt

1. Click the Start Menu
2. Type cmd
3. Open Command Prompt

Option 2 — PowerShell

1. Click the Start Menu
2. Type PowerShell
3. Open Windows PowerShell

After installing Git, you may also use Git Bash.

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Step 2 — Check Whether Git Is Already Installed

On some lab computers Git may already be installed.

Run:

git --version

If you see something like:

git version 2.x.x

Git is already installed.

If not, install it in the next step.

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Step 3 — Install Git

Mac

Run:

git --version

macOS will prompt you to install Command Line Tools.

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Windows

Install Git:

https://git-scm.com/downloads

Then open Git Bash and verify:

git --version

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Step 4 — Configure Git (First Time Only)

Run:

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

Make sure the email matches your GitHub account.

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Step 5 — Clone This Repository

Choose where you want to store your projects.

Navigate there:

cd path/to/your/projects

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/schurr-lab/git-tutorial.git
cd git-tutorial

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GitHub Sign-In

Git may open a GitHub login window in your browser.

Choose:

Sign in with your browser

If you use two-factor authentication, enter the code from your authenticator app.

If a page asks you to authorize the Git Ecosystem, click it and confirm.

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After Cloning

You should see:

git-tutorial/
├── README.md
├── students.md
└── practice/

Enter the repository:

cd git-tutorial

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Step 6 — Edit the File students.md

Open the file:

students.md

You can use any text editor, for example:

• PyCharm
• VS Code
• Notepad
• TextEdit

Add your name:

- Alice Smith – PhD Student – 2026

Save the file.

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Step 7 — Practice Task

Inside the practice/ folder create a file:

yourname.txt

Example:

alice-smith.txt

Write:

Hello GitHub!
This is my first Git commit.

Save the file.

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Step 8 — Commit Your Changes

git add students.md practice/yourname.txt
git commit -m "Add Alice Smith to students list and practice file"

A commit records your changes.

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Step 9 — Push Your Changes to GitHub

git push

This uploads your changes to GitHub.

Now your work is safely stored online.

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Daily Workflow (Most Important Habit)

When working on your own projects:

1. Edit your files
2. Save them
3. Commit your work

git add .
git commit -m "Describe what you did"
git push

Doing this at the end of every day ensures your code is always backed up.

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Appendix — Using PyCharm Instead of the Terminal

If you prefer PyCharm:

https://www.jetbrains.com/help/pycharm/set-up-a-git-repository.html

Typical workflow:

1. Clone repository

File → Get from VCS

2. Edit files

3. Commit

Use the Commit tab.

4. Push

Click Push.

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Advanced Topics (Optional)

These features are important when collaborating on shared repositories.

Branches

Branches allow you to work on changes without affecting the main project.

Example:

git checkout -b new-feature

Pull Requests

A Pull Request asks maintainers to review and merge your changes.

This is commonly used when multiple researchers collaborate on the same codebase.

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Additional Resources

Git tutorial
https://git-scm.com/docs/gittutorial

GitHub documentation
https://docs.github.com

Markdown guide
https://www.markdownguide.org/basic-syntax/

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Maintainers

Lab administrators review and maintain this repository.

If you encounter problems, open a GitHub issue or ask a lab member.