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🔀 Git & GitHub Basics

Learn just enough Git to download the course materials. That's all you need for now!

Why Do I Need This?

The course notebooks are hosted on GitHub

You need Git to download them to your computer

One command (git clone) gets you everything

Git is version control software - it tracks changes to code. GitHub is where we store the course materials online.

Git vs GitHub - What's the Difference?

⚙️

Git

Software that runs on your computer

  • Tracks changes to files
  • Downloads code from GitHub
  • Works via terminal commands
🌐

GitHub

Website for hosting code online

  • Stores code in the cloud
  • Share code with others
  • Browse code in your browser

Think of it like this: Git is like a download manager on your computer, and GitHub is like Google Drive for code.

✓ First: Check If You Already Have Git

Before installing, let's see if Git is already on your computer:

$git --version
git version 2.39.0

If you see a version number: You're all set! Skip the installation.

If you see "command not found": Follow the installation instructions below.

Installing Git

🍎

Mac

Note: Mac often comes with Git pre-installed via Xcode Command Line Tools. If git --version prompts you to install developer tools, click "Install".

If you need to install or update Git via Homebrew:

$ brew install git
🐧

Linux

# Ubuntu/Debian
$ sudo apt install git
# Fedora
$ sudo dnf install git
🪟

Windows

Download Git for Windows from:

Download Git for Windows ↗

✓ Verify Installation

After installing, verify it worked:

$git --version
git version 2.39.0

Success! If you see a version number, Git is ready to use.

The One Command You Need: git clone

git clone

Download a repository from GitHub to your computer

$git clone https://github.com/HocheggerLab/y3-bio-python.git
Cloning into 'y3-bio-python'... remote: Enumerating objects: 156, done. remote: Counting objects: 100% (156/156), done. Receiving objects: 100% (156/156), done.

What happens: This creates a new folder called y3-bio-python containing all the course notebooks and files.

🎯 Step-by-Step: Clone the Course Repo

1

Open your terminal

Launch Warp or your default terminal

2

Navigate to where you want the files

$ cd Documents

Or wherever you want to store your course materials

3

Clone the repository

$ git clone https://github.com/HocheggerLab/y3-bio-python.git

This downloads all the notebooks to a new folder

4

Enter the new folder

$ cd y3-bio-python

Now you're inside the course repository!

🎉

Done!

You now have all the course materials on your computer.

📥 Getting Updates

If we update the course materials (add new notebooks, fix typos, etc.), you can get the latest version:

# Make sure you're in the y3-bio-python folder
$git pull

This downloads any new changes from GitHub.

Optional: Create a GitHub Account

You don't need a GitHub account to download the course materials, but it's useful for:

💾

Backup Your Work

Store your own projects online

👥

Collaborate

Share code with classmates

📦

Use Packages

Access thousands of bioinformatics tools

🎓

Student Benefits

Free Pro features with GitHub Student Pack

Sign up for GitHub

📋 Quick Reference

git --versionCheck if Git is installed
git clone <url>Download a repository
git pullGet latest updates

That's it! These three commands are all you need for this course.

📚 Want to Learn More?

This page covers everything you need for this course, but if you're curious to learn more about version control and collaboration: