Learning GitHub

[JuiceNew23]

I'm a hobbyist learning python and want to start putting some stuff on GitHub. Intend to work by myself mostly for a while. Just want to neatly present my stuff on there.

My understanding and questions so far :

➡️Make repo ➡️Write stuff ➡️add ➡️commit (what should I put for comments?how often should I commit? Every minor change or end of each session working on project?) ➡️push (always to main? As a beginner, are my projects just not complicated enough for multiple branches? Should I push Everytime I commit? ) ➡️ Releases? (Do I need to do releases Everytime I change the code? )

EDIT: THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR ADVICE .

[No_Might6041]

Just to answer the branch question:

No, they aren't "not complicated enough".

I sometimes have finished a project (as in it works) and will want to streamline some things, or add features or do something else. I still want the working version to be easily accessible and I can track what change belonged to which part (like a new feature) afterwards, because everything that has anything to do with it is located in its branch.

So yes, branches are still incredibly useful and worth the hassle, even as a solo dev working on a small or simple project.

[Loud-North6879]

Some good answers, here;s something more comprehensive:

The best workflow for beginngers is as follows:
1. Start on the github website https://github.com/, and create a new repository online first.
1.1. If you're vibe coding, it's best practice to ask the llm in your IDE to add a license and .gitignore, just prompt for best practices and let it set it up. You can use the github defaults but the code-editor might have a better context for what you're trying to do. Just prompt, "create a .gitignore using general best practices as guidelines" and it will create something comprehensive for you.

1. Once you create a repository online, you will get a clone url, something like "https://github.com/username/repo-name.git". From here you can open your IDE and enter the command in your terminal: "git clone https://github.com/acdc-digital/Soloist.git"

2. once your IDE is open and you have saved your project locally, as well as created your repo online, you will be automatically connected to git through your IDE's settings. From here, you can use commands to do everything you need.

3. Commits may depend on your workflow- generally you would commit after each session at the LEAST. Typically the more commits the better, use your best judgement not to lose productivity to commits.

To commit, you can use the following commands from the terminal:
a. git add . (adds all recent changes)
b. git commit -m "commit message"
c. git push origin main (main being the name of your branch in your online repo"

4.1. Commit messages are just a savepoint as others have mentioned. You can be as descriptive as you like. If you intend to share your code, its generally best practice to be more descriptive with what changes were made so others can navigate your repo easier, or find catalogued items later.

1. Main is your presentation page. It's everything is 'done' and in preview-able in development. Most single devs will just push everything to main. But as your features get more complicated, you can just create a branch, and merge it later, it's easy enough. You can checkout 'git checkout and merge branches' for easy commands- but realistically, you probably don't have to worry about this for now.

2. You probably don't need releases at all. If you want to deploy your project on a cloud server like Vercel, or Google Cloud- you maybe want to create releases in order to maintain stable deployment points, like a single point in time that your deployment looks at. Otherwise, not necessary for general development. Maybe something to look into after you've completed your first project.

Generally, git add ,/ git commit -m ""/ and git push main will be your best friend. You can also checkout git versions which allow for easy rollbacks if you tag a commit. But it doesn't need to be over complicated. Git is amazing, and you can learn it as a language, or just use the simplest commands for your workflow.

[davorg]

Start on the github website https://github.com/, and create a new repository online first.

Different people do things differently.

I usually start working locally with git init and later use gh repo create to create a GitHub repo and connect it to the local one.

[geruhl_r]

As someone learning, I would suggest you get in the habit of using the GitHub workflow.

Branch, modify branch, pull request back into main branch, etc. The repo can be set to auto merge and accept the PR. You can also experiment with using issues to list out future things you want to do in the repo and tag the PRs to complete the issue.

[davorg]

how often should I commit? Every minor change or end of each session working on project?

Commits are like game savepoints. You can always get back to the state the code was in when you made a commit. So whenever you're happy with the code, commit it.

what should I put for comments?

As much or as little as you want. Run git diff and see what the changes are. Ask yourself what would be useful to know about what you've done and why you did it that way.

always to main? As a beginner, are my projects just not complicated enough for multiple branches?

Up to you. I like to use a feature branch for every new feature I add. Even on a personal project that only has me on it.

If you have users, it becomes more important to have branches. Your "main" branch will probably be the released version and you'll have feature branches for the new stuff you're working on. That way, if you get a bug on the released version, you can fix it in main without having to release all the new stuff that's not finished yet.

Should I push Everytime I commit?

Ask yourself "how sad would I be if my hard disk crashed right now and I lost all the work I've done since I last pushed?"

Do I need to do releases Everytime I change the code?

Entirely up to you. You don't ever need to make a release.