SWD2: Version Control with Git and Github

Here’s our scenario. Two researchers, Samit and Jane, are working on a software development project to write some code and supporting documentation to analyse post-operative inflammation data recorded from patients on a number of wards in the local hospital. They want to be able to work on the plans at the same time, but they have run into problems doing this in the past. If they take turns, each one will spend a lot of time waiting for the other to finish, but if they work on their own copies and email changes back and forth things will be lost, overwritten, or duplicated. They know, from past experience that this is a very inefficient way of working.

A colleague suggests using version control to manage their work. Version control is better than mailing files back and forth:

Teams are not the only ones to benefit from version control: lone researchers can benefit immensely. Keeping a record of what was changed, when, and why is extremely useful for all researchers if they ever need to come back to the project later on (e.g., a year later, when memory has faded).

Version control is the lab notebook of the digital world: it’s what professionals use to keep track of what they’ve done and to collaborate with other people. Every large software development project relies on it, and most programmers use it for their small jobs as well. And it isn’t just for software: books, papers, small data sets, and anything that changes over time or needs to be shared can and should be stored in a version control system.

Prerequisites

In this lesson we use Git from the Unix Shell. Some previous experience with the shell is expected, but isn’t mandatory.

Schedule

Setup Download files required for the lesson
00:00 1. Automated Version Control What is version control and why should I use it?
00:05 2. Setting Up Git How do I get set up to use Git?
00:10 3. Creating a Repository Where does Git store information?
00:20 4. Tracking Changes How do I record changes in Git?
How do I check the status of my version control repository?
How do I record notes about what changes I made and why?
00:40 5. Exploring History How can I identify old versions of files?
How do I review my changes?
How can I recover old versions of files?
01:05 6. Ignoring Things How can I tell Git to ignore files I don’t want to track?
01:10 7. Remotes in GitHub How do I share my changes with others on the web?
01:40 8. Collaborating How can I use version control to collaborate with other people?
02:05 9. Conflicts and branching What do I do when my changes conflict with someone else’s?
How to I separate development work between other members of my team?
02:20 10. Open Science How can version control help me make my work more open?
02:30 11. Licensing What licensing information should I include with my work?
02:35 12. Citation How can I make my work easier to cite?
02:37 13. Hosting Where should I host my version control repositories?
02:47 14. Using Git from RStudio How can I use Git with RStudio?
02:57 Finish

The actual schedule may vary slightly depending on the topics and exercises chosen by the instructor.