Git, GitHub, and GitHub Actions: An Introduction

Name: Git, GitHub, and GitHub Actions: An Introduction
Rating: 4.5 (88 reviews)

Learn the basics of Git, GitHub and GitHub Actions, and how they work together for effective Version Control

Created byEmil Terhoven

Last updated 1/2025

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Learn the fundamental concepts and basic usage of Git
Learn the fundamental concepts and basic usage of GitHub
Learn the fundamental concepts and basic usage of GitHub Actions
Learn how Git, GitHub, and GitHub Actions work together to support productivity, code safety and collaborative teamwork

Course content

7 sections • 23 lectures • 1h 51m total length

Introduction1:18
Explore git, GitHub, and GitHub actions, learn what they do and how they work together, and practice with hands-on exercises to grasp their role in version control for code.
Welcome to this course! What to Expect3:29
Git, GitHub, and GitHub actions cover the fundamentals of version control, collaboration, and automation, including tracking changes and setting up workflows for beginners.
Prereqisuites for completing this course4:08
Set up your development environment by installing git, creating a free GitHub account, and selecting a text editor like Visual Studio Code to create and sync repositories.
Setting up Git on your local machine0:18

Introduction0:27
Explore what git is, how it functions, and the benefits it offers. Practice using git on your local machine with commands to create, save, and modify files.
What is Git, and why use it?8:41
Explore how Git tracks changes, enables collaboration through sharing and merging, allows rollback to previous versions with branches and snapshots, and integrates with GitHub.
Hands on with Git: getting started5:19
Initialize a repository with git init, create and add new file.txt, and commit to the main branch while using git status and git log to track changes.
Hands on with Git: working with branches7:45
Learn how git branches work, create and switch between branches, and merge changes to the main branch on your local machine. Understand isolation, collaboration, and rollback safety.

Introduction0:38
Explore how GitHub extends git for collaboration, learn its features and benefits, and create a repository to pull to your local machine and work with GitHub seamlessly.
What is GitHub and why use it?7:03
Explore what GitHub is and how it integrates with git; learn about remote repositories, collaboration through pull requests and issues, documentation, and hosting with GitHub pages.
Hands on with GitHub: Creating your first repository6:30
Create and explore a private GitHub repository, add a readme file, and learn the repository's landing page, issues, pull requests, and GitHub actions before cloning to your local machine.
Hands on with GitHub: Cloning your repository5:59
Explore three ways to pull a GitHub repository to your local machine—fork, clone, or use GitHub desktop—covering https, ssh, and GitHub CLI options.
Hands on with GitHub: Creating and Merging Changes11:23
Learn to create and switch branches, push changes, and open pull requests for review, enabling safe merging of changes into the main branch on GitHub.
Collaborating on GitHub3:33
Explore effective collaboration on GitHub through forking, cloning, branching, and pull requests, using issues and reviews to track changes, feedback, and tasks.

Introduction0:42
Explore how GitHub Actions automates continuous integration for GitHub repositories, build and run your own workflow in the GitHub UI, and learn to control when workflows run.
What is GitHub Actions?10:40
Discover GitHub actions, a built-in automation platform that runs event-driven YAML workflows inside your repository to build, test, deploy, and automate code with reusable actions.
Hands on with GitHub Actions: creating your first workflow9:51
Create your first GitHub actions workflow on the main branch, placing it in .github/workflows, using the checkout action and a hello world run.
Hands on with GitHub Actions: Events that trigger workflows9:59
Explore how to trigger GitHub Actions workflows with push, pull request, and cron schedule events, and configure separate workflows using branches and YAML definitions.

Introduction0:51
Explore ways to enhance your day-to-day GitHub workflow using its available tools, and review essential security measures for protecting organizational and private code.
Enhancing your GitHub workflow4:59
Enhance your GitHub workflow by exploring issues and projects, linking issues to code changes, assigning collaborators with labels, and maintaining a well-written readme with markdown.
Securing your GitHub repositories6:13
Enforce branch protection on main, require pull requests and status checks, and securely store secrets to guard code and workflows while scanning dependencies and code.

Requirements

No experience is required for this course
A computer and GitHub Account is required to complete the exercises in this course

Description

Welcome to this starter course on Git, GitHub and GitHub Actions. This course is the perfect starting point to introduce these commonly used tools and give you a first-hand taste of their workings.

Git is the world's most popular version control tool and is widely used across the globe. GitHub is a central meeting place to not only store files and data, but also work and collaborate with teams and other like-minded individuals. Finally, GitHub Actions is an excellent CI tool, particularly use for software development and application management.

The goal of this course is to introduce these popular tools to you, and answer some important questions about each such as:

- what do they do?

- why are they so popular?

- how do they work together?

- how do I make use of it?

For each of these tools, you will not only come to understand the importance and value. You will be given hands-on experience and exercises to get a feel for their usage on your own computer.

By the end of the course, you will have a firm understanding of the basic mechanisms of these three tools, and you will be ready to dive deeper into any or all of them.

Who this course is for:

Anybody who is new to Git, GitHub, or GitHub Actions and would like to learn the basics
Technology students who would like to learn about Git, GitHub or GitHub Actions
Anybody interested in Git, GitHub or GitHub Actions and would like a starting point

Git, GitHub, and GitHub Actions: An Introduction

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction4 lectures • 9min

An Introduction to Git4 lectures • 22min

An Introduction to GitHub6 lectures • 35min

An Introduction to GitHub Actions4 lectures • 31min

GitHub Features and Best Practices3 lectures • 12min

Next Steps1 lecture • 1min

Bonus Section1 lecture • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: