D Getting Started with git and GitHub

We use the git version control system and the GitHub web interface to manage version control.

To get started, follow the steps outlined by the chapters in Bryan (2022). In particular,

  • Register a GitHub account (The Lab @ DC requests that you make a separate account from any person GitHub account you may have.)
  • Update R and RStudio (if you will use R, or use RStudio for interacting with git regardless of whether you use R)
  • Install git
  • Introduce yourself to git

You are basically ready, but press on. First, simplify interacting with git, so that you don’t have to enter your password every time you make a commit or fetch remote code.

  • Set up a PAT or SSH key. GitHub provides advice about managing your secure keys, using “fine-grained” (repo-specific) keys, etc.

  • Add a copy of your key to your Lab LastPass account.

Then, practice making a repo in the chapter “Connect to GitHub”.

At The Lab, we

  • do not store sensitive data on GitHub.

We have a few template repositories:

  • The data science team’s current template
  • A simple, not-organized-by-project-phase one here
  • An older (out of date?) one

References

Bryan, Jenny. 2022. Happy Git and GitHub for the useR. https://happygitwithr.com/.