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General Discussion

Posted by Kenton Kotsiris
Kenton Kotsiris
6,130 Points

github - when should someone new to code start to use it?

I'm changing career paths to become a front end web developer. I'm taking the corresponding track here (just finished stage 3, so a lot more to go). With a career in mind, I know building a portfolio is key, which I plan to do. However, I see a lot of other people say potential employers will want to see some activity on Github. Having a look at it and it seems way over my head right now. When should I try to get involved? About what level is needed? Thanks for your help!

5 Answers

Justin Horner
STAFF
Justin Horner
Treehouse Guest Teacher
Justin Horner
Justin Horner
Treehouse Guest Teacher

Hello Kenton,

Treehouse has a fantastic course on Git called Git Basics that will have you well on your way to using Git/GitHub comfortably. There's also a great workshop called Get Acquainted with Git if you're a Pro member.

Source control is important both in a team environment and personal projects for many reasons that will be explained in Git Basics. Get started early so that with each project you do, you gather more Git experience as well. In my opinion, Git is a skill that requires making mistakes and fixing them to truly become comfortable.

I hope this helps.

Brian Hernandez
Brian Hernandez
20,285 Points
Brian Hernandez
Brian Hernandez
20,285 Points

Just also wanted to add the latest Get Together with Git workshop that was just added an hour ago (as of this writing) to have all the git course links in the same post ;-).

Justin Horner
Justin Horner
Treehouse Guest Teacher
Justin Horner
Justin Horner
Treehouse Guest Teacher

Thanks for sharing Brian! Perfect timing :)

Christy Zimmer Coyle
Christy Zimmer Coyle
3,014 Points
Christy Zimmer Coyle
Christy Zimmer Coyle
3,014 Points

Thank you for asking this Kenton. I had the same question!

Kenton Kotsiris
Kenton Kotsiris
6,130 Points
Kenton Kotsiris
Kenton Kotsiris
6,130 Points

Thanks Justin for the info! I will check out the corse. I guess my last question would be: what's the level of code knowledge needed to be active on github?

I'm a complete beginner just learning html and css at the moment.

Kevin Korte
Kevin Korte
28,149 Points

You have enough "code knowledge" to be active on Github already. Once you wrap your head around the basics, it becomes really nice. There are still a lot of things that GitHub can do that I don't even understand or use.

It easier way to get your toe into the GitHub pool is to use their GUI program. They have a GUI program for both Mac and Windows, which makes it visually very easy to commit and push changes to Github, and make pulls if neccessary.

I used the GitHubs GUI for awhile, until recently I just started to use the command line only because it is "faster" and I started to get the rhythm or process of using Git and GitHub.

https://mac.github.com/

https://windows.github.com/

Justin Horner
Justin Horner
Treehouse Guest Teacher
Justin Horner
Justin Horner
Treehouse Guest Teacher

You're welcome! In my opinion, it's never too early to start using GitHub. I completely agree with Kevin Korte, you already know enough to gain the benefits of GitHub.

Don't feel like you have to know every single aspect of Git/GitHub to use them effectively right now. Be agile by learning and using what you need today and grow with it as necessary.

I hope this helps. Happy coding :)

Kenton Kotsiris
Kenton Kotsiris
6,130 Points
Kenton Kotsiris
Kenton Kotsiris
6,130 Points

Thanks Kevin for the reply! I'll download the client to get a feel for it. I should probably also take the recommended Git Basics course as well.

Kevin Korte
Kevin Korte
28,149 Points

No problem, good luck! I haven't taken the Git Basics course here, and I haven't taken a Git course or class of any kind. I just started playing around with it, and reading the documentation about Git and and Github, and figured out how to create repositories, commit changes, push and pull to keep my local repository and my main branch in sync.

I'll eventually take the Git classes, and I'm sure I'll learn a lot more. I say that just to say if I was able to get it at least functional where my code can be viewed on my Github profile, I'm sure you can too!