What is Git?
First developed back in 2005, Git is an extremely popular version control system that is at the heart of a wide variety of high-profile projects. Git is installed and maintained on your local system (rather than in the cloud) and gives you a self-contained record of your ongoing programming versions. It can be used completely exclusive of any cloud-hosting service — you don’t even need internet access, except to download it.
Compared to other version control systems, Git is responsive, easy to use, and inexpensive (free, actually). Git is also specially designed to work well with text files — which, if you think about it, is what code actually is. But one thing that really sets Git apart is its branching model. Branching allows you to create independent local branches in your code. This means you can try out new ideas, set aside branches for production work, jump back to earlier branches, and easily delete, merge, and recall branches at the click of a button.
And that’s it. Git is a high-quality version control system. But what about GitHub?
What is GitHub?
In the discussion of Git vs. GitHub, it’s been said that GitHub is to Git what Facebook is to your actual face. What’s that mean? Well, it means that while Facebook is kind of like an online face database (of sorts). GitHub is designed as a Git repository hosting service.
And what exactly is a Git repository hosting service? It’s an online database that allows you to keep track of and share your Git version control projects outside of your local computer/server. Unlike Git, GitHub is exclusively cloud-based. Also unlike Git, GitHub is a for-profit service (although basic repository-hosting features are available at no cost to those who are willing to create a user profile, making GitHub a popular choice for open-source projects).
That’s because, in addition to offering all of the features and advantages of Git, GitHub expands upon Git’s basic functionality. It presents an extremely intuitive, graphically represented user interface, and provides programmers with built-in control and task-management tools. Additional features can be implemented via the GitHub Marketplace service. And because GitHub is cloud-based, an individual’s Git repositories can be remotely accessed by any authorized person, from any computer, anywhere in the world (provided it has an internet connection).
Through GitHub, you can share your code with others, giving them the power to make revisions or edits on your various Git branches. This makes it possible for entire teams to coordinate together on single projects in real-time.
As changes are introduced, new branches are created, allowing the team to continue to revise the code without overwriting each other's work. These branches are like copies, and changes made on them do not reflect in the main directories on other users’ machines unless users choose to push/pull the changes to incorporate them. There is also a GitHub desktop application available, which offers some additional functionality for experienced developers.
Other Git repository hosting services also exist; GitLab, BitBucket, and SourceForge are all viable GitHub alternatives, and GitLab even offers a built-in option which allows GitHub users to migrate their projects directly into GitLab.
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