3.2 GitHub Basics
17.08.2025
Explanation: What is GitHub?
GitHub is an online platform where projects can be stored, managed and shared with others. It is based on Git, a version control system. Git works like a kind of ‘time machine’: every change to a file is saved so that you can trace how a project has developed at any time.
GitHub extends this system with an online interface. This allows projects to be stored, managed and shared with others not only locally on your computer, but also online.
GitHub is more than just a place to store files:
• Backup: Your projects are stored securely in the cloud and are not tied to a specific computer.
• Collaboration: Multiple people can work on the same project at the same time without interfering with each other. Changes can be compared, merged or reset.
• Transparency: Every change is traceable. This makes it easy to find errors or document progress.
• Publication: GitHub Pages allows you to publish websites online free of charge – without needing your own server or hosting contract.
Publication: How and what can you publish on GitHub?
On GitHub, you can publish code written in Python, JavaScript, HTML, etc. GitHub can also host HTML websites, but in return, the free domain will contain ‘github’ (see the URL of this website). You can also publish PDFs, Markdown files, and much more on GitHub.
Glossary: These are the important words
Here are some important terms in the world of GitHub:
• Repository (repo): project folder on GitHub containing files and version history.
• Commit: a save or version of the project with optional comments.
• Branch: a development branch (e.g. ‘main’ = main version).
• Push: Files from local PC (upload to GitHub).
• Pull: Files from GitHub (download to PC).
• Clone: copy an entire repository locally.
• README.md: Start file, explains your project.
• Pages: GitHub feature for hosting websites directly in the browser.