Git is among the most popular version control systems in the world. It allows software developers to safely and effectively manage their code and allow for easy collaborations among developers. Git lets programmers securely trial new lines of code within a project without deleting previous lines of code. It is perfect for test software.
What is Version Control?
Version Control is a system that is used by software developers to protect their code while they are working on projects. It protects source code from unintentional loss by saving previous versions of the code that you have written.
Git was created by Linus Torvalds in 2005 in reaction to what he saw as the shortcomings in the functionality and ease of use offered by other version control systems.
He immediately released his work to the open-source community under the GPL license. Since then its adoption within the IT industry has been global. As a result, you can be pretty confident that anyone coming on board a dev team today will have used it, so can quickly get up to speed on a project.
Git is a shining example of the hybrid model of software development where it is used with both open-source and proprietary tools and platforms. It runs on
- and Linux operating systems.
Git is distributed. That means that each developer makes a copy of the entire code when they check out the codebase for their work. A team can also work remotely using Git. Code can be checked out from and merged back into a central Git installation hosted on a network. (In fact, that is how Github works – but more about that later.)
Git is flexible enough to reflect most teams preferred workflows what other benefits does Git bring?
The benefits of Git
- Project management
Git allows for multiple independent releases while larger work is ongoing. For example, the majority of a team might be working on some core functionality due to be released in a month or so. One developer might also be working on a small feature requested by existing customers. And another developer might be fixing a bug spotted by some users.
Because of Git’s branching functionality, the team can choose to release these changes at different stages. This agile development capability benefits both the team and the end-users. More frequent releases mean more feedback from the customer and more frequent updates as a reaction to the feedback.
- Compare code changes
Git allows its user to compare the changes made to a project’s code over a specific period of time. This is perfect if a team ever decides to revert back to an older version or to track where improvement occurred in a version.
- Design UX/UI
As part of the UX process, front-end designers and developers can code up working UI alternatives for a client. They can safely play around with, break and alter the views without having to worry about affecting the code in the master branch.
- Customer support
As previously mentioned, Git can be used to stagger the release of changes in the code-base. This is great for getting bug fixes out to customers. Bug fixes can be released into the live code as soon as the fixes are in place. Customers then feel more confident about the product and the organisation behind it when they get a quick response time to an issue they’ve experienced.
- Great Performance
There are many Version Control systems out there and developers rate Git very highly because of its excellent performance and its ease of use. It’s praised for focusing on file content and not just file names.
- Widely popular
As already mentioned, nearly all new developers are familiar with Git. This wide acceptance means that it is incredibly easy for teams to work using it. This results in less training on Version Control systems.
What is GitHub?
GitHub is where you can manage your Git repositories. It is a cloud-based hosting service where more than 70 million developers can connect.
Learn to Code
Before getting started with Git, or any other Version Control system, it is important to learn how to code. Code Institute teaches students to become programmers through its full-stack software development programme. If you want to find out more, arrange a call from our Education Advisors through the form below.