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Getting Started with Git and GitHub

Premium
BeginnerCourse

Learn the fundamental skills to develop applications collaboratively with the Version Control Systems Git and GitHub. Explore key concepts, including branching and repositories; practice forking, cloning, and merging workflows. Build up your portfolio with a final project.

Language

  • English

Topic

  • Cloud Development

Industries

  • Information Technology

Enrollment Count

  • 66

Skills You Will Learn

  • GitHub, Git, Cloning And Forking, Open Source, Distributed Version Control Systems

Offered By

  • IBMSkillsNetwork

Estimated Effort

  • 10 hours

Platform

  • SkillsNetwork

Last Update

  • April 24, 2025
About this Course
Everyone in software development should know the fundamentals of version control systems. Git and GitHub provide both version control for your code and act as a robust repository. These industry-standard tools provide a platform for social coding and are crucial to contemporary DevOps culture. They allow developers to share and collaborate on their projects at a global scale.  

This course provides hands-on experience working with these popular platforms. You’ll learn and practice the fundamental concepts of Git, such as forking, cloning, and merging workflows. You will explore key Git concepts, such as branching repositories, and the Git commands for navigating these systems. As a result, you will become a more effective team member and contributor to collaborative coding projects.  

Each module contains hands-on labs to apply and practice what you learn. In the final project, you will begin building your portfolio and demonstrate your Git and GitHub skills by creating and sharing a public, open-source GitHub project. Not only will the final project showcase your skills, but you'll also have a place to share future development projects with potential employers and colleagues. 

This course, developed and taught by IBM practitioners, will help you gain the vital skills for using these repositories. You will perform the hands-on activities in this course using the free, web-browser-based versions and interfaces. You do NOT need to install any specialized software on your computer for this course. 

What you will learn

  • Describe the relevance of version control and code repositories in a DevOps environment and culture. 
  • Explain fundamental version control concepts such as branching used for distributed, and social coding. 
  • Create GitHub repositories with branches, perform pull requests (PRs), and merge operations, which allow you to collaborate on a team project. 
  • Showcase your skills by sharing an open-source, public project on GitHub. 

Prerequisites

Basic computer literacy .

Course Syllabus:

Module 1: Git and GitHub Fundamentals 
  • Overview of Version Control, Git, and GitHub 
  • Introduction to GitHub 
  • GitHub Repositories 
  • GitHub – Getting Started 
  • Hands-on Lab: GitHub Sign Up & Create Repo 
Module 2: Using Git Commands and Managing GitHub Projects 
  • GitHub Branches and Pull Requests 
  • Hands-on Lab: Branching and Merging (Web UI) 
  • Getting Started with Branches Using Git Commands 
  • Cloning and Forking GitHub Projects 
  • More about Cloning and Forking 
  • Managing GitHub Projects 
  • Hands-On Lab: Cloning and Forking GitHub Projects 
Module 3: Final Project 
  • Part 1 – GitHub UI
  • Part 2 – Git CLI 

Instructors

Upkar Lidder

Software Engineer

Upkar Lidder is a senior software engineer with 10+ years in IT development including team management, functional and technical leadership roles with a deep experience in full-stack technology. Currently focused on Cloud Native. He can be seen speaking at various conferences and participating in local tech groups and meetups. Upkar went to graduate school in Canada and currently resides in the United States.

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Rav Ahuja

Global Program Director, IBM Skills Network

Rav Ahuja is a Global Program Director at IBM. He leads growth strategy, curriculum creation, and partner programs for the IBM Skills Network. Rav co-founded Cognitive Class, an IBM led initiative to democratize skills for in demand technologies. He is based out of the IBM Canada Lab in Toronto and specializes in instructional solutions for AI, Data, Software Engineering and Cloud. Rav presents at events worldwide and has authored numerous papers, articles, books and courses on subjects in managing and analyzing data. Rav holds B. Eng. from McGill University and MBA from University of Western Ontario.

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