Git and GitHub

Two names you'll hear constantly. They are not the same thing, and it helps to keep them separate in your head.

• Git is the tool that tracks every change to your code over time.
• GitHub is the website where we store our code, collaborate on it, and run the automation we've written to test and ship it.

Think of git as the filing system and GitHub as the shared office where the filing cabinet lives — and where the printers, scanners, and post-room (the automation our platform team has set up) live too.

What git does for you

Git remembers every saved version of every file (called a commit), who made it, and when. You can always go back. You can never lose work you've committed.

You'll interact with git through commands (either typed in a terminal or via tools like Claude Code). The key terms to understand: commit (save a snapshot), branch (a separate workspace), push (upload to GitHub), and pull (download from GitHub).

Repositories

A repository ("repo") is one project's worth of code. Each tool or service lives in its own repo on GitHub. You'll be told which repo to open; you don't have to go searching for them.

Commits — saving your work

A commit is a snapshot of your changes with a short message explaining why you made them. The message matters because future-you (and your reviewers) will read it when trying to understand why something is the way it is. A good commit message focuses on the reason for the change, not just what changed — the diff already shows the "what".

Branches in one sentence

You never edit the main version directly. You make a copy called a branch, edit there, and propose the changes back. The next article covers this properly.

The basic workflow

1. Check out a new feature branch — you never work directly on main. A checkout means "switch my workspace to this branch". Every change should happen on a fresh branch named for the task at hand.
2. Make your changes — edit the code in your editor or work with tools to make the changes.
3. Commit your work — save a snapshot with a meaningful message explaining why you made the change.
4. Push to GitHub — upload your commits so others can see them.
5. Open a Pull Request — propose merging your changes back into main.

You can do these steps via command-line git, editor integrations, or tools like Claude Code — the process is the same regardless. The mechanics — especially why the feature-branch step matters — live in the next article.