How to use git and github with just you

[caro401]

Example situation: you have a small data set or writing project in a text/CSV/markdown file that you work on over time, and want to track changes and have a remote backup (relatedly, we probably need a what is version control)

Things to cover

• we assume you know why you want/need to use version control

• we assume you know how to get to your terminal/command prompt and run commands

• we assume you're working on a single computer (so you can't get merge conflicts)

• we won't cover branching/merging/pull requests here

• install git, make a github account

• create a repo on github (private), explain the instructions they give when you make a repo

• add your file, make a commit with a message

• push your commit to the remote

• make more changes, commit and push again

• view history/file at older versions in github, view diff of what you just did

• if your computer is toast, recover onto a new machine by clone the work you did from github