This tool backs up your code to a cloud “repository”. It has at least three components: the cloud repository, a local repository, and software to manage the repositories. Github.com is the most widely used cloud repository. Detailed instructions on how to get started with GitHub are available. In brief, the steps are:
Say that a collaborator has made changes to the code and you want to access the revised code. You will want to “pull” the changes from the cloud to your local repository. Generally you will want to get into the habit of pulling changes from the cloud repository before you make any local changes to the code. If you make changes to a file that was changed in the cloud repository since you last updated your files, you’ll need to reconcile and merge the two versions of the code. It’s not a disaster, which is a good thing because it will happen. When it happens you will have to learn more of your client’s features for reconciling conflicts.
For similar reasons you will want to be sure to commit AND PUSH your changes to the repository frequently, at least daily.
How does GitHub help?
The University of Texas’s repository
The University of Texas system is designed to be used only by UT employees and is a secure location for code that you want to keep within a team of people employed by UT-Austin (including people with zero-time appointments). Each person needs to login to github by going to github.austing.utexas.edu and using their uteid and password to login. After that one can create and be added to existing repositories.
UT produces tokens that you need to use instead of your regular uteid password to commit and pull changes. I need to consult with someone who has done this more recently to remember what needs to happen to get the token.