Introduction to GitHub

Tværs Gruppemøde, April 2025

Signe Kirk Brødbæk

Agenda

1. Who am I?
2. What is GitHub?
3. What can it be used for?
4. Why use GitHub?
5. Examples 👀
6. GitHub workshop, May 26

Aim: Brief introduction to GitHub and how it can be useful for projects within SDCA

Questions: This is a new topic for many and there can be some GitHub-related lingo. I will try to explain everything as we go along, but if you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

Who am I?

• Primarily working on the Seedcase Project
• Develop teaching material and teach workshops
• R-package: Open-Source Diabetes Classifier
• Admin for steno-aarhus on GitHub

• Seedcase Project: open source software (Python packages) for packaging and documenting research data

I spend 95 % of my work time using GitHub 🙌

What is GitHub?

• A website: github.com
• Stores files in repositories
• Uses version control (Git) to track file changes
  • Git + Hub

• Website: At its core, it’s a website. If you open up your browser and type in “GitHub.com”, you will be taken to GitHub
• Stores files: GitHub is a place where you can store and share files related to a project, like a website, in a “repository” (meaning “storage” or “place to keep things”, in Danish: “opbevare”).
  • A repository is like a folder on your computer, but instead of being on your computer, it’s on the internet. You can access it from anywhere with an internet connection.
• Central to GitHub is that it uses a version control system called “Git”
  • In Danish: “versionsstyring”
  • Git: Track changes to files and folders over time (who made the changes, when + a message describing the changes)
  • The name “GitHub”: A “hub” (central place) for storing and sharing files, using Git to track changes

What can GitHub be used for?

• Storing and sharing files (while tracking changes)
• Creating websites
• Collaboration
  • Reviews: Giving and receiving feedback
  • Communication (tasks, to-do lists, discussions)
  • Project management (project boards)

• Store/share files like documents, images, code for your data analyses

Why use GitHub?

• Everything related to your project in one place (files, tasks, discussions, feedback, project management)
• Changes are tracked
• Everything is open and accessible to everyone (unless you make it private)
• Eases collaboration

• Everything in one place:
  • Files stored in the same place as your tasks, discussions, feedback, and project management
  • No need to email files around or having multiple versions of the same file
• Tracking changes: You can see who did what when + revert to previous versions of files if needed
• Transparency: On GitHub, everything is open and accessible to everyone (unless you make it private). This means that anyone can see your work, and you can see other people’s work.

Examples: GitHub.com 👀

Show:

• The steno-aarhus organisation

• Simple example: A website repository (prodiap)

  • Files and folders
  • Version control (commits)
  • Issues

• Collaborative example: A Seedcase repository

  • Files and folders
  • Issues
  • Pull requests + feedback (find a nice example beforehand)
  • Project board

GitHub Intro workshop, May 26

• Gentle introduction to using GitHub for managing and working with files
• Registration: Mail from Louise
• Pre-workshop tasks

Pre-workshop tasks: Around 1 hour to complete. Mostly reading to build a common foundation for the workshop and get familiar with the concepts we’ll apply during the workshop.

Questions?