In this activity, we will explore configuring the local Git default branch to main. We will also review another way to create a repository, using the git init command. Lastly, we will review the git pull command.
Git is an important tool that allows developers to track and store versions of content. It also enables you to collaborate and share code with others. During this boot camp, you'll use Git to share code via a class repository, which you'll be required to pull down before each class. In addition, for each homework assignment, you'll provide the grading team with a link to the GitHub repository that contains your code.
For more information, review the Full-Stack Blog guide on getting started with Git.
First we need to set the local Git default branch to main.
Historically, the most common name for the main body of a codebase has been master. However, main has been gaining in popularity. In fact, GitHub now uses main as the default name for its repositories—as do the projects in this course.
While GitHub has changed their default branch conventions, your local machine will still initialize projects using the master branch. Therefore, you'll need to manually change it to main.
Important: If you've already configured your local default branch to
main, you don't need to repeat this step.
To check the version of Git that you have installed on your local machine, enter the following command in the command line:
git --versionIf your version of Git is 2.28 or older, you'll first need to update Git.
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Windows users can visit the Downloading Git website and download the latest "64-bit Git for Windows Setup" file.
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Mac users can use Homebrew to update their version of Git:
brew upgrade git
To set the default branch to main, both Windows and Mac users will run the following command:
git config --global init.defaultBranch mainYou will not get a confirmation message. If the configuration is successful, it will simply return to the command-line prompt.
We already learned how to create a remote repository on GitHub and clone it onto the local machine. This time, let's initialize a new repository locally using the git init command.
Using git init also allows us to turn any existing project into a Git repository easily.
Start by creating a new project directory named git-init-sample on your local machine. Ideally, you should have a parent directory to store all of your projects for this course:
mkdir git-init-sampleNext, use cd to navigate into the new directory and add an index.html file using the touch command:
cd git-init-sample
touch index.htmlTo initialize this folder as a Git repository, use git init. We need to be in the project folder when we run this command!
git initThis creates a new subdirectory named .git that contains all of your necessary repository files—a Git repository skeleton. At this point, nothing in your project is tracked yet. To start version-controlling the existing files in your project, you need to start tracking those files and do an initial commit.
First let's run git status to check the status of the files:
git statusWe should see that index.html is currently untracked. Let's add that file to be tracked:
git add .Now if we run git status again, we should see that the file is being tracked and is ready to be committed:
git commit -m "initial commit"Now we are ready to connect the local repository to a remote repository on GitHub!
To create a remote repository to store the code, navigate to GitHub and create a new repository by clicking on the green New button at the top left and entering the project name, git-init-sample, in the "Repository Name" box.
Important: Because we are importing an existing repository, make that sure none of the options are checked!
Click the "Create Repository" button. Then copy the code under the header "…or push an existing repository from the command line". It should look like the following example:
git remote add origin <the HTTPS or SSH URL ending in .git>
git branch -M main
git push -u origin mainNote: If you successfully set your local default branch to
main, you do not have to run thegit branch -M maincommand.
Paste the commands into the command line and press Enter.
If successful, you should see a message that looks like the following image:
Before each class, it is important that we do a git pull to pull down any changes and activity files from the student repository to the local machine. Let's review how to do just that.
To perform a git pull, first navigate to the corresponding project directory, which in this case will be git-init-sample:
cd git-init-sampleNext, use git pull to pull down any changes from the remote git-init-sample repository. Just like when we did a git push, we use origin to represent the original directory—or more precisely the original repository's URL—followed by the name of the branch, which is main:
git pull origin mainRight now, the local repository is up to date with the remote repository, so you'll get a message that says "Already up to date". This means that the local version of your repository is up to date with the remote version being hosted on GitHub.
If the remote repository has changes that you don't have locally, you will get a message that lists the changes made, similar to the one shown in the following image:
Both messages indicate that the git pull command has been successfully performed.
You can review the changed files by opening them in VS Code.
For each unit's Homework, you'll be required to share the URL of your repository.
To share the URL, navigate to your repository on GitHub. Then copy the URL from the address bar and share it with your partner in Slack. To view your partner's repository, simply click on the shared link.
Ask an instructor or TA if you get stuck or have any questions!
For more information, refer to the Atlassian guide on setting up a repository.
For more information, read the Atlassian guide on git pull.
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