Github for Windows
It started with source safe for me. Then I met with TFS. And then I started to read about (DVCS) distributed revision control systems. (git and mercurial)
I was just trying to learn in the beginning. But today I am one of the fanatic supporter of DVCS.
When you switch to the distributed revision control system from centralized ones you feel the evolution. It surprises me that how developers can use a version control system that does not allow them to commit in their local repositories. When you are developing, every little change mush be committed. With centralized systems you cannot commit every time you like. your change can break the build. So you wait till it is good enough to be committed. It can take all the day. This can put you in a situation that you are not tracking your changes well you are tracking the summaries.
As Joel Spolsky stated before, we need to re-educate people about using version control systems.
People thinks it is working but no… they just didn’t met the better world.
For Git the UI and the tools are not mature yet that people find it hard to learn. But after Github for windows things can change.
Keeping my codes in Github on cloud also feels nice. I can reach them from anywhere, anytime with no fear of losing my code data… Also I can easily ask people’s opinions. Probably it is not the only alternative for this but it is the one I feel close… Github has a soul that I proud to participate via pushing to any repository. Bitbucket on the other hand has free private repository option which is great.
Let’s check how things changed with github for windows.
To setup Git for your machine you can use these configuration commands on Git shell.
Git config –global user.name "Serdar B."
Git config –global user.email "hserdarb@gmail.com"
Git config –global apply.whitespace nowarn
Whoami (yes! git can answer that question who you are :)
In the new Github app you set these in the options screen.
Now we don’t need to set posh-git too. Our Git shell works from PowerShell by default.
To create a new repository you write “git init” on Git shell commands but it now can be replaced with “add new repository” screen.
Git init
Git status
Git status was giving us the changed files list but now you can see it better with “Github for Windows”
Stashing is, now just right clicking to the menu command.
Git add -A
Git commit -m "work comment"
Git commit -am "work comment"
Git commit –amend
Everything feels easier with “Github for Windows”. Yes committing is better too. You write your message in the yellow box and click the commit button.
We now have a nice menu to create branches…
These commands are for shell usage.
Git branch
Git branch master
Git checkout -b develop
Git merge develop
To clone and add a remote repository you can click clone. If you want to do it from shell write these commands.
Git clone github.com/serdarb/test-repo
Git remote add remotename remoteurl
Now git syncs, it pulls and pushes automatically.
Git pull origin master
Git push origin master
If I want to use commands from Github for Windows. I can open a shell…
To sum up, Github for windows is a good move for meeting windows developers with distributed revision control systems I am sure Github team will add wonderful features to add that lean teams can’t choose other tools…
References
nvie.com/posts/a-successful-git-branching-model (this post should be referenced in all the articles that are written about git :)
