Do you want it? (yes you do)

In week one of Dev Bootcamp we mainly focused on Version Control using Git and Github. What is Version Control, Git, and GitHub you may ask? Let’s talk about it.

What is version control? It is much as it sounds. It’s a way to track changes to files, as well as control who has permission to work on files. If you had a Word document, it would be like saving a rough draft every time you saved the file in which you could go back and work on a previous version. If you own a Mac, it’s alot like Time Machine, where you can go back to a specific time on your computer before you added or chaged files.

Then we come to Git. Git is a type of version control. It’s local (on your computer), and it allows you to work on different snapshots of files without worrying about breaking something. Make a mistake? You can go back in time and change it. Want to be creative and try out a new feature to see how it works? You can try it without worrying about breaking your code.

Since Git is local, the collective brain of humanity had to come up with a way to collaborate. Enter Github. Github is basically Git in the cloud. It allows you to show your code off to everyone, which enables everyone to help you out. You can allow anyone to change it, or specific people, or noone. The great thing is people can make suggestions to your code and you can collaborate on the change before allowing it. Best of all, if your computer dies…your files live!

In conclusion, as a developer you need Version Control. Specifically, you should use Git and GitHub. Git some!