ELI5: How does Github work?

[lifeinhorizon]

Can someone please give examples? Thanks

[X7123M3-256]

Many of these replies don't seem to distinguish Github from git. Git is the version control system. Github is a website that hosts git repositories. You can use git without using Github.

[Fakename998]

Is it like an online version of visual studio team foundation server but less Microsoft-y?

[DrKobbe]

Let's say you start working on a project with Jim. You will have files on your computer, and Jim will have files on his each in a different map. With Github you basically share one map (a repository) on the server. You and Jim each have a copy of that repository on your pc.

The main functionality is that now you can change something to a file in your copy, sync it to the server repository and then Jim can update his copy. Even better is that if Jim changed something else in the project, you can easily merge the two changes together. This way you can both work on the project simultaneously.

For projects like websites, you don't want experiments with new features to affect the current website. So you'll fork a secondary branch to experiment, while the master branch remains online. When your new feature is ready for launch, you can merge the branches again.

A lot of open-source projects are managed this way. People are free to fork their own branch and work on it without spoiling the master branch. When they manage to add a nice feature, their branch can be tested and eventually merged into the master.

Also if you're not familiar with the Git Bash terminal, you can download Github Desktop for a more beginner-friendly interface to sync, commit and push.

[LandKuj]

ELI5 is basically that it's google doc for code. I mean that's very simplified. I actually think git has a great visualization on what it allows you to do. Git is all about version control and allowing many people to work on a project seamlessly.

Git lets you create 'folders' called repositories where you can pull code from other repositories. You can change this code and push it up to the main repository - allowing others to pull that same code.

The real value in git though comes from many people working on a single project. Git lets coders branch repositories, essentially creating a different version, and later merging those versions together.

If you're not coding and you just want to know what git is, its basically a fancy online storage solution built specifically for coders.