MERGE GYMGitHub, from zero

0 of 8 modules

74 min courseField guide Skill profile

COURSE PATH

Learn the idea. Practice the move. Prove the judgment.

Plain-English glossary24 key terms

Git: The version-control system that records changes.
GitHub: The collaboration platform built around Git repositories.
Repository: A project and its complete change history—often shortened to repo.
README: The project’s front page and operating guide.
Commit: An intentional saved checkpoint with a message and author.
Actions: Automated workflows such as tests, checks, and deployments.
Diff: The exact additions and removals between two versions.
Commit message: A concise explanation of the change captured by a commit.
.gitignore: Rules that keep local or sensitive files from being tracked.
Branch: An independent line of changes within a repository.
main: The conventional name for the repository’s default, official branch.
Checkout / switch: Move your working view from one branch to another.
Pull request (PR): A request to review and merge changes from one branch into another.
Base branch: The branch that will receive the proposed changes.
Compare branch: The branch containing the proposed changes.
Review: Structured feedback and a decision on a pull request.
Merge conflict: Competing changes Git cannot safely combine without a human decision.
Branch protection: Rules that can require reviews, checks, or other conditions before merge.
Issue: A trackable unit for a bug, task, idea, or decision.
Assignee: The person currently responsible for moving an item forward.
Project: A configurable planning view across issues, PRs, and draft ideas.
Workflow: An automated process defined in the repository and triggered by an event.
Required check: An automated result that must pass before a protected branch can be updated.
Secret: A credential such as a token or key that must never be committed to repository history.

MODULE 01 / 08◷ 7 MIN

Start here · no technical background needed

GitHub without the jargon

GitHub is a shared home for work that changes over time. It keeps every saved version, makes proposed changes visible, and records who decided what.

Repository

Commit

Branch

Pull request

Main

IN PLAIN ENGLISH

Think of a repository as a shared project binder. Git is the version-tracking system inside the binder; GitHub is the office where the team stores, discusses, reviews, and approves it.

The ideas to keep

Git records versions

It remembers each intentional save and can compare any two points in time.

GitHub coordinates people

It adds discussion, review, permissions, automation, and planning around those versions.

Nothing changes by magic

A visible chain connects an idea to a change, a review, and a merge into the official version.

WHY THIS MATTERS AT WORK

You do not need to write code to lead work in GitHub. You need to know where the work lives, what is proposed, what is approved, and what is safe to ship.

COACH'S NOTEWhen someone says “it’s in GitHub,” ask for the repository and the pull request or issue. That turns a vague status into a traceable piece of work.

Practice the move

This is a simulation. Nothing touches a real repository.

github.com / practice / launch-siteSafe simulation

NORTHSTAR LAUNCH · SCENARIO 01

You have joined the Northstar launch team. Your first job is to understand where decisions and changes live before touching anything.

YOUR MOVE

A teammate says, “GitHub is basically Google Drive for code.” What is the most useful correction?