Git & GitHub Guide

This guide explains what Git is, how to use GitHub, and how to contribute to our team’s code and documentation.

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What is Git?

Git is a tool that tracks changes in files over time. It lets multiple people work on the same code without overwriting each other.

Think of Git like Google Docs “version history” but for robot code, CAD, and docs.

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What is GitHub?

GitHub is a website where we store our Git repositories (repos) online. It makes it easy for our team to share code, track issues, and collaborate.

Our team’s main GitHub organization is: 👉 https://github.com/BC-Robotics-4504 (BC Robotics)

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Getting Started

1. Install Git

• Windows: download Git for Windows
• Mac: use Homebrew → brew install git
• Linux: use your package manager (Ubuntu → sudo apt install git)

Check it works:

git --version

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2. Set Your Identity

Tell Git who you are (this shows up in commit history):

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

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3. Make a GitHub Account

• Go to github.com
• Create an account with your school or personal email
• Ask a mentor to add you to Team 4504’s GitHub org

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4. Clone the Repo

Cloning means copying a repo from GitHub onto your computer.

Example for our robot code repo:

git clone https://github.com/Team4504/robot-code.git
cd robot-code

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5. Make a Branch

Branches are “copies” where you can safely make changes.

git checkout -b my-first-change

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6. Make Changes

Open files in your editor (we recommend VS Code). Change code, docs, or CAD files.

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7. Save Your Changes (Commit)

Stage and commit your edits:

git add .
git commit -m "my first commit: fixed drivetrain constants"

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8. Push to GitHub

Send your changes up to GitHub:

git push -u origin my-first-change

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9. Open a Pull Request (PR)

• Go to the repo on GitHub
• You’ll see “Compare & Pull Request”
• Describe what you changed
• Ask for a review → mentors or leads will merge it

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Common Commands

# check what files changed
git status

# see commit history
git log --oneline

# switch to another branch
git checkout main

# get the newest updates from GitHub
git pull origin main

Video Tutorial

This video from Fireship does a good job of explaining the basic git concepts: