codex-lv2-may-2025

GitHub Collaboration – Direct Links to Software Carpentry Lessons

Collaborative Git and GitHub workflows for working with others. This lesson provides direct links to the official Software Carpentry Version Control with Git lessons covering collaboration, pull requests, and conflict resolution.

This tutorial is based on the resources at Software Carpentry’s Version Control with Git

Prerequisites

Before starting these lessons, make sure you have:

• Completed the basic Git lessons (lesson-6-github-shell)
• Completed the advanced Git lessons (lesson-7-github-advanced)
• A GitHub account with a repository
• Experience with pushing and pulling from remote repositories
• Basic understanding of Git history and .gitignore

Lesson Structure

1. Collaborating

Learn how to collaborate with others using Git and GitHub.

• How can I use version control to collaborate with other people?
• Understanding the collaborative workflow
• Working with multiple contributors
• Best practices for team collaboration

2. Conflicts

Learn how to handle and resolve merge conflicts when collaborating.

• What do I do when my changes conflict with someone else’s?
• Understanding when conflicts occur
• Strategies for resolving conflicts
• Preventing conflicts through good practices

Additional Resources

• Git Cheat Sheet
• Git Glossary
• Git Discussion Topics
• GitHub Collaboration Guide
• GitHub Flow

Practice Activities

After completing each lesson, try these hands-on activities:

1. Collaborative Workflow
   • Set up a shared repository with a partner
   • Practice the fork and pull request workflow
   • Review and merge each other’s changes
   • Use GitHub’s collaboration features
2. Conflict Resolution
   • Intentionally create merge conflicts
   • Practice resolving conflicts manually
   • Use Git tools to understand conflict markers
   • Learn to communicate about conflicts
3. Team Best Practices
   • Establish team conventions for commits
   • Practice code review processes
   • Use issue tracking and project management
   • Document collaboration workflows

Collaboration Concepts Covered

• Fork and Pull Workflow: The standard GitHub collaboration model
• Pull Requests: How to propose and review changes
• Code Review: Best practices for reviewing others’ work
• Conflict Resolution: Understanding and resolving merge conflicts
• Team Communication: Effective collaboration strategies

Real-World Applications

These skills are essential for:

• Open source contributions
• Team software development
• Academic collaboration
• Documentation projects
• Any multi-person project using Git

Getting Help

• Use git --help for command-line help
• Check the Git documentation
• Review GitHub Guides
• Practice with GitHub Learning Lab
• Ask questions in the course discussion forum

Next Steps

After completing these lessons, you’ll be ready for:

• Contributing to open source projects
• Leading collaborative development teams
• Managing complex Git workflows
• Teaching others about Git collaboration
• Advanced topics like Git hooks and CI/CD

Common Collaboration Scenarios

• Pair Programming: Working simultaneously with a partner
• Code Reviews: Reviewing and approving changes
• Feature Branches: Developing features in isolation
• Release Management: Coordinating software releases
• Documentation: Collaborative writing and editing

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This lesson structure provides direct access to collaborative Software Carpentry Git lessons while preparing students for real-world teamwork scenarios.