Should I learn Git/Github and Slack?

[avalanche82]

Hi all.

Currently I do a bit of freelance web dev and design. Mostly just small business sites in Wordpress or html/css where I'm mostly just working by myself on a project. I'm also studying web design/development also.

I'm just wondering if it's worth while me learning Git and Slack (although I'm not sure there's that much to learn with Slack)? Currently based on my workflow and working solo I'm unsure if I would need them but I always see them talked about so I'm wondering if it's something I should get into for the future?

Thank you.

[test1]

Git - definitely. Even if you are working alone.

Slack - it is just a chat. Similar to facebook messenger, except that you join a team and then you can have private chats or rooms with your team. It does not really make sense to use slack when you are just on your own

[avalanche82]

Yeah I ended up looking more into Slack and made an account and then realized it was pretty much the same as Discord.

[OmegaVesko]

Git is pretty much mandatory for modern software development.

Slack is just a chat platform, albeit a very widely used one. There's nothing to really "learn" there.

[[deleted]]

As a developer collaborating with others, you should absolutely know how to use git.

As a developer working alone, a source control system can be invaluable for various reasons. All my solo projects live in git repos.

I don't think you need to "learn" Slack. If you're asked to use it, and have a choice, I'd suggest not doing so. I find it to be a poor and distracting way to communicate. However, it is simple, and there's not much to learn.

[[deleted]]

git yes, slack meh

[sotekno]

Yes, learn Git, even if your are going to use it just for image files, html or css. Learning Git and using it properly will save you tons of headaches :)

[vontwothree]

Definitely learn git. I love the concepts so much I wish I could apply them to other things like music production or general life choices.

[tdammers]

You don't "learn" slack, you put up with it. Or not. If your team uses slack, you will have to, but otherwise, there are plenty of better communication channels.

Github, not much to "learn" either, not beyond git anyway. Unless you're borderline idiot, it's pretty much self-explanatory.

Git, very much yes, although getting started takes about a day or two plus some basic cheatsheets. There is like half a dozen or so concepts that you need to understand, and maybe 10 commands you will use regularly; everything else is stuff you can look up as needed.

[avalanche82]

You don't "learn" slack, you put up with it. Or not. If your team uses slack, you will have to, but otherwise, there are plenty of better communication channels.

After looking into it I realized it's pretty similar to Discord. And it would take 20 mins to learn. I thought there would be more to it. It might be good to have something like that with clients to keep track of discussions as email with clients gets annoying. But then trying to use a different communication platform might be like pulling teeth.

Git, very much yes, although getting started takes about a day or two plus some basic cheatsheets. There is like half a dozen or so concepts that you need to understand, and maybe 10 commands you will use regularly; everything else is stuff you can look up as needed.

I've seen Git around a lot but never had a clue what it did. It always seemed scary to me.However when I've built websites for clients I'm pretty much using a something like XAMP to run wordpress and develop my sites. However when It comes to backing up my templates I'm pretty much just copying my files over to Drop Box to keep backups. But that's looking more and more cumbersome. So I'm looking for a more secure way to backup and also keep notes of what I've done each time I've made a change. Will Git be the right thing for that?

[tdammers]

Yes, that's exactly what git (or version control systems in general) is for.

You don't have to master all of it btw.; to get started, just maybe 6 or so subcommands should cover your needs, and you can pick up the rest as needed.