Introduction to Version Control with Git and GitHub

ROOM CHANGE: Room is now Lewis Library 122

Git is the dominant distributed version control system (VCS) in use today. As a VCS, it allows users to manage and navigate the history of their files across time, across collaborators, and even across parallel versions, all in a comprehensive and consistent manner. As a distributed VCS, Git allows code to be easily stored in more than one location (e.g. your laptop paired with GitHub) and can be shared with the world or limited to specific collaborators.

This workshop introduces the fundamentals of Git in an exercise-driven, hands-on format. Even though the emphasis will be on using Git and GitHub for a solo workflow, the material covered will equip users with the necessary background to start using Git collaboratively as well. It is geared toward anyone looking to learn the basics of using Git to organize their work (and, conversely, how to make their workflows Git-friendly).

Knowledge prerequisites: Comfort with the command line, but no prior experience with git or other VCS is assumed.

Hardware/software prerequisites: 1. Participants should have Git installed on their local machines. Chapter 1.5 of "Pro Git" (https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2) describes installation. 2. Participants must have access to a Linux/Unix command line. Mac and Linux users already have this. Windows users can either install an SSH client and connect remotely to Adroit, or they can enable access to a Linux command line on their laptop (options include Windows Subsystem for Linux, Cygwin, Git Bash).

Workshop format: Presentation and hands-on

More Software Engineering Training

Below is the full line-up of the Winter 2026 software engineering training by Research Computing:

Good Practices for Research Software Engineering on 1/12
Intro to Version Control with Git and GitHub on 1/12
Attaining vim Fluency: Edit as Fast as You Think on 1/13
Creating Reusable Python Code: From Notebooks to Scripts to Packages on 1/13
How to Package and Publish Your Python Code on 1/14
Gotcha! How to Write Software Tests to Improve Code Quality on 1/14
Debugging and Profiling Code in Python on 1/15
Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) with GitHub Workflows on 1/15
Tools That Help You Write Better Code on 1/16
Introduction to Software Reverse Engineering with Ghidra on 1/16

More Training Workshops

See the entire Research Computing Winter 2026 training program.

Research Computing | View More Events
Co-hosted with: GradFUTURES

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