Intro to Git & GitLab

Code4libBC edition

Cynthia Ng | @TheRealArty
November 30, 2018

Thanks

@svesselov

What is Git?

Git is a version Control system for tracking changes in computer files

Why do we need it?

Benefits of Git

Accessible	Everyone can contribute!
Distributed	Enable large and distributed teams to collaborate
History	Every change is tracked

Git & GitLab

Git ≠ GitLab

GitLab

GitLab is open source, users can host Git repositories publicly and privately for free.
GitLab has one vision. Everyone can contribute to all digital content.
Open source projects host or mirror their repositories on GitLab.
Post your own code for others to use or contribute to.
Use and learn from the code in other people's repositories.

GitLab's Awesome Features

Unlimited private projects and collaborators.
Built-in CI/CD
Preview your changes with Review Apps
Publish static websites for free with GitLab Pages
Public projects and groups get all gold plan features for free

Git Terms

The Lingo!

Repository	Place where files are stored and managed
Server	The computer that stores your repository
Client	The computer you use to connect to the server
Local Copy	Repository files you keep on your computer to make changes

More Lingo!

Branch	One version of the code
Master	The primary version of the code for the repository
Merge	Add changes from one branch into another
Fork	A copy of the repository

Setup Account with GitLab

https://gitlab.com

First look at GitLab

GitLab Projects

GitLab Groups

Let's do it!

Our First Merge Request

Fill in the details

You have several options here. You can change the title and add a description. These can help others quickly understand what this merge request is all about.

Further down, you can assign a particular person to review your merge request. Most teams have a process for who reviews and merges these requests.

You can assign a milestone. Milestones allow you to organize issues and merge requests into a cohesive group, with an optional start date and an optional due date.

Labels can be added to tag the merge request. Labels provide an easy way to categorize the issues or merge requests based on descriptive titles like bug, documentation or any other text. They can have different colors, a description, and are visible throughout the issue tracker or inside each issue individually.

At the very bottom of the page, you will see the 'Source Branch' and the 'Target Branch.' The 'Source Branch' is the branch you are on., It is the 'source' of the changes. The 'Target Branch' is the branch into which the changes will be merged. It is the 'target' for the changes.

Merge your Merge Request

See your Changes

Success!

Making changes using Git!

Read: Using the Command Line (cli)

Check your computer for Git

						
							$ git --version

** No need to type in the $, this just indicates it is a shell command.

Output

								
									git version 2.18.0

*INSTRUCTOR: Walk participants through commands on screen **explain that they do not have to type in the $, this just indicates it is a shell command.

It is time to get started. Let's check and see if you have Git. Run appropriate command to check. The command is the same for Mac or Windows.

If your terminal responds with a message like this: "git version 2.0.1", you have an official version installed.

If you're prompted to install Xcode, or the command line developer tools, you either do not have git installed, or don't have it in your $PATH variable.

For Mac users: If you get a message like "git version 1.9.3 (Apple Git-50)", you have Git installed from Apple (through Xcode or the command line developer tools), and can most likely benefit from installing the latest build directly from the official Git website.

Download Git: https://git-scm.com/downloads

Check for a default name Git will use when you commit

							
								$ git config --list

Set the default name Git will use when you commit

							
								$ git config --global user.name "First Name Last Name"

Set the default email Git will use when you commit

							
								$ git config --global user.email "email@example.com"

** The quotes are necessary! They indicate that the words inside the quotes are a string and not a command.

View your config settings

						
							$ git config --list

Output

								
									user.name=your.name
									user.email=email@domain.ca

Visual Studio Code

Load your choice of directory.

							
								File -> Open

Clone

Copy the repository with Git

							
								$ git clone https://gitlab.com/code4lib/bc/2018-fun-times.git

Move into the repository directory

							
								$ cd 2018-fun-times

Double check your location.

Windows:

						
							$ dir

Other:

						
							$ ls

Let's check the status of our Git Repo.

						
							$ git status

Create a new branch & checkout

						
							$ git checkout -b BRANCHNAME

When we made the changes through the browser, we made the changes then created a branch. Technically, we can still do that, but it's good practice to create the branch first so that anything we do for the time being is on the branch we've created.
It is not good practice to work directly in master. Master is often seen by the final working version. All development should be done on a separate branch which is then merged into master once it has been reviewed.

Let's create a branch to work on using the following command. This command is two-in-one. It creates a new branch and checks it out at the same time. 'Checking out' a branch means placing you inside that branch.

Now that we have our local working copy of the files and our branch, let's make some changes.

Make a change

Open up your file and edit it.

We have our branch, let's go ahead a make a change to one of the files. This repo contains the presentation you see today, developed using reveal.js. Don't worry! You don't need to know any programming to make a change. We are going to make a simple change to the README file.

The README file contains information about the directory and its contents. The README file for this repo is written in markdown, a lightweight markup language with plain text formatting syntax.

Open the README file in an editor of your choice. *INSTRUCTOR: You may have to walk individuals through this process. They should have an editor like Atom, Sublime, or Visual Code installed already.

*INSTRUCTOR: Instruct the class to make a change at the end of the README file. It doesn't matter what it is. Add their name, a sentence, or delete content. Make sure they hit save!

Check git status

								
									$ git status

Output

								
									modified: filename.md

Stage file for tracking

								
									$ git add filename.md
									OR
									$ git add .

Check status

								
									$ git status

Output

								
									modified: filename.md

Time to commit!

								
									$ git commit -m "details of the change made"

Check status

								
									$ git status

Output

								
									On branch [BRANCHNAME]
									nothing to commit, working tree clean

Push & Set Origin

							
								$ git push origin BRANCHNAME

Output

								
								To gitlab.com:code4lib/bc/2018-fun-times.git
								* [new branch]      BRANCHNAME -> BRANCHNAME

Phew! That was a lot. Let's review!

Review

config	Get and set global or repo options
status	Show the working tree status
checkout	Switch branches and can create new branch
add	Adds the file contents to the index, and stages
commit	Add the changes from one file to another, bringing them up-to-date
push	Send the changes to the server

Checkout Master

							
								$ git checkout master

Sync with Master

								
									$ git pull origin master

Check Status

								
									$ git status