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MODULE 0 — Setup (Lessons 1–3)

Goal: Understand what Git and GitHub actually are, install/configure Git safely, and create the disposable student lab used throughout this course.

Primary references:

Before Lesson 1, read ../../STUDENT_LAB.md if you have not already. This curriculum repo is the textbook; your separate git-github-lab repo is where you experiment.

Lesson 1 — Git, GitHub, repositories, and installation

LEARN

Git is a distributed version-control system. It records versions of a project as commits and lets you inspect, compare, branch, combine, and recover those versions locally.

GitHub is a hosting/collaboration platform built around Git repositories. It adds remote hosting, Pull Requests, Issues, code review, Actions, Releases, permissions, and social/project features.

A repository is a project whose Git metadata and history live in a hidden .git directory at its root. Git does not magically upload or back up every edit you make. You deliberately select changes and create commits.

A useful first mental model:

files on your computer
        ↓
      Git
(local history and branches)
        ↓ push / ↑ fetch
     GitHub
(remote copy + collaboration)

Git can work without GitHub. GitHub can host Git repositories created with Git.

DO

Install Git from https://git-scm.com/downloads, then open a terminal and run:

git --version

You should see a Git version.

Then answer without looking:

  1. Could you commit while offline?
  2. Does editing a file automatically create a commit?
  3. Is GitHub the same program as Git?

Expected ideas: yes, no, no.

INSPECT

Run:

git help -a

You do not need to understand the list. The point is to notice that Git is a command-line program with many operations; this course will teach the small subset you need first.

TRANSITION CONDITION

Without the guide open, explain Git, GitHub, commit, and repository in your own words, and show that git --version works.

Lesson 2 — Identity, configuration, and privacy

LEARN

Every commit records an author name and email. These are commit metadata, not your GitHub password and not necessarily your login email.

Git has configuration at several scopes. In this course you will mostly use:

  • --global — your user-level defaults
  • --local — settings for only the current repository

GitHub can associate commits with your account when the commit email matches a verified account email. If you do not want your personal email exposed in public commit history, GitHub provides a noreply address in account email settings.

DO

Set your identity deliberately:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your-chosen-commit-email@example.com"
git config --global init.defaultBranch main

Inspect the values and where they came from:

git config --global --list
git config --show-origin --get user.name
git config --show-origin --get user.email

Optional: if you want a different identity in one repository later, use git config user.name ... and git config user.email ... without --global while inside that repo.

TRANSITION CONDITION

You can explain the difference between global and local Git configuration, and you can show your configured name, email, and default branch.

Lesson 3 — Create the student lab and understand .git

LEARN

git init creates a new repository by adding a hidden .git directory. That directory contains Git's local metadata, refs, object database, and configuration.

Your working files remain ordinary files. Git begins with no commits. You will decide what becomes history in Module 1.

For this course, use a disposable practice repository rather than modifying the curriculum repository.

DO

Create your lab in a convenient location:

mkdir git-github-lab
cd git-github-lab
git init
git status

You should see that you are on main with no commits yet.

Create a tiny marker file:

echo "Git/GitHub student lab" > README.md
git status

Notice that Git reports the file as untracked. Do not commit it yet; Module 1 starts there.

GitHub authentication — prepare, do not overcomplicate it

You need a GitHub account before the remote modules. You do not need to memorize authentication internals now.

For HTTPS on modern Git for Windows/macOS, Git Credential Manager can normally open a browser sign-in when Git first needs credentials. GitHub CLI (gh auth login) and SSH keys are valid alternatives, but neither is required for understanding local Git.

If you already have working GitHub authentication, leave it alone.

INSPECT

Run:

git status
git rev-parse --show-toplevel
git config --local --list

The first tells you repository state. The second tells you the repository root. The third shows repository-specific configuration.

TRANSITION CONDITION

From memory, create a new disposable folder, initialize it with Git, create an untracked file, and use git status to explain the state. You can also state what the .git directory is for.

Module 0 gate

You are ready for Module 1 when you can:

  • distinguish Git from GitHub
  • explain what a repository and commit are at a high level
  • show Git is installed
  • identify your configured commit identity
  • create and inspect a repository with git init and git status
  • keep course content separate from your disposable student lab

Then continue to Module 1 — Daily Core.