DATAWorks 2022 - Introduction to Git

Version control software manages, archives (optionally) different versions of files. Git is the most popular program for version control and serves as the backbone for websites such as Github, Bitbucket and others. In this mini-tutorial we will introduce basics of version control in general, Git in particular. We explain what role Git plays in a reproducible research context. The goal of the course is to get participants started using Git. We will create and clone repositories, add and track files in a repository and manage Git branches. We also discuss a few Git best practices. This tutorial was first given at the DATAWorks Conference 2022 held April 26-28 in Alexandria, Virginia.