Git

In this course, we use Git, the most popular Version Control System to keep a complete history of the changes made to code and revert to old versions when needed. This feature comes in handy when you want to make changes to code without losing the original.

Check that Git is installed

Open terminal in Linux or MacOS, or "Git Bash" on Windows. Then run the following command:

git --version

If you get a response such as “git” is not a recognized command, you have not (correctly) installed in. Please visit the logistics page and install it on your computer.

Check that Git is configured

In terminal, run the following command.

git config --list

This must show your name and email (use the same email as the one you use to sign into GitHub).

If the config variables are missing or incorrect, tell Git who you are:

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

Aside: Terminal

The terminal or command-line is an interface that processes commands in the form of lines of text. I assume that you know the very basics of working with the terminal. If not, please review this short introduction that prepares you for the following steps (and future lessons in this course).

You need to be able to open the terminal in your code editor. Please refer to this documentation if you are using VSCode.