Git and Github for Homeworks

During the course of this class you will build a fairly sophisticated webapp, one small step at a time. Specifically, (almost) every week there will be a new homework which will involve adding more features to the webapp from last week.

You will turn in the weekly homeworks by using git and github.  The folks at github have been nice enough to give me 20 free 'private' repos. We have to use private repos because all of you will be working on the same project so, we don't want others copying your work. 

The way this will work is:

1. You get a github.com account.
2. You email me your github account name and I will then create a private repo for you and give you commit privileges on it. After that you and I will be the only ones who can see or edit the repo.
3. Before every deadline you will 'push' to github. I will 'pull' every project just after the deadline. Make sure your code is on the 'master' branch.

Alternatively, you can go to here and tell them you are a student and want your own couple of private repos. Then you can create your own repos yourself.  It takes them a couple of weeks to answer so, do it now. The advantage of this is that you will have the repo after class is over, whereas the repos I create will eventually get deleted when I teach this class again.

Either way, at the end of the semester you will have a nice little project on your github account that you can make public to show prospective employers your webapp building skills.

If all this sounds confusing, no worries, I will spend a lecture on git and on the specific workflow you will use (really just, 'commit', 'commit', then 'push' when you are ready).

Required Reading

• Read Chapters 1 and 2 (at least) of The Git Book.