Git & GitHub for Python Developers: Version Control Made Simple

Whether you're building a personal Python project or collaborating with a team, understanding Git and GitHub is essential. These tools let you track changes, revert errors, and collaborate on code without overwriting each other’s work.

In this post, we’ll cover:

What Git & GitHub are
Installing Git
Setting up a local Git repository
Pushing code to GitHub
Branching, committing, merging, and more
Using AI tools like GitHub Copilot for Git commands

What is Git?

Git is a distributed version control system that helps track changes in source code during software development.

Benefits:

Tracks every code change
Reverts back to older versions if needed
Supports branching and merging for feature development

What is GitHub?

GitHub is a cloud-based hosting service for Git repositories. It offers:

Remote code storage
Collaboration with teams
Issue tracking, pull requests, and CI/CD integration

Installing Git

🔹 On Windows:

Download from git-scm.com
Install and check version:
```
git --version
```

🔹 On macOS:

brew install git

🔹 On Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install git

Git Configuration

After installing Git:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"

Initializing a Git Repository

Navigate to your project directory and initialize Git:

cd my-python-project
git init

Add and commit files:

git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"

Connecting to GitHub

1. Create a GitHub repository:

Go to github.com
Click New repository
Name it (e.g., my-python-project)

2. Link local repo to GitHub:

git remote add origin https://github.com/yourusername/my-python-project.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main

Branching & Merging

Create a new feature branch:

git checkout -b new-feature

After changes:

git add .
git commit -m "Added new feature"
git checkout main
git merge new-feature

Pulling & Pushing Changes

Pull latest changes from GitHub:

git pull origin main

Push local changes to GitHub:

git push origin main

Useful Git Commands

Command	Purpose
`git status`	Show current state of repo
`git log`	View commit history
`git diff`	Show file differences
`git stash`	Temporarily save changes
`git clone [repo URL]`	Download repo from GitHub
`git reset --hard HEAD~1`	Undo last commit (caution!)

Using GitHub Copilot for Git Commands

GitHub Copilot can suggest useful Git commands or help write .gitignore files for your Python project.

You can also ask AI tools like ChatGPT:

"How do I resolve a merge conflict in Git?"

GitHub SSH Key Setup (Optional)

For secure connections without typing your password every time:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"

Add the public key (~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub) to GitHub → Settings → SSH and GPG Keys

Summary

Task	Command/Tool
Version control	`git init`, `git commit`
Remote repo hosting	GitHub
Team collaboration	Branches & pull requests
GitHub Copilot	Git & code suggestions
Common tools	VS Code, Git CLI, GitHub Desktop

Final Tips

Commit often with meaningful messages
Use .gitignore to exclude virtual environments, __pycache__, and .env files
Always pull before you push to avoid conflicts

Py Data

Git & GitHub