Git and GitHub

Git is a free and open-source version control system that tracks changes made to documents over time. It allows you to revisit earlier versions of your manuscript, methods, or scripts—essential for reproducibility and collaboration.

GitHub is a cloud-based hosting platform for Git repositories. It is widely used by researchers and developers to facilitate collaboration, version tracking, and code sharing. GitHub features such as Copilot, Issues, branching, and GitHub Pages provide powerful tools for managing projects and showcasing your work.

This tutorial series will introduce the fundamentals of using Git and GitHub in conjunction with RStudio. Topics include setting up Git locally, cloning repositories, pushing updates to GitHub, and best practices for managing collaborative work.

For more in-depth guidance, consult the UBC Library Git & GitHub workshop or the textbook Happy Git and GitHub for the useR.

Video Content (Optional)

Tip

Prefer a video walkthrough? Watch the tutorial below for an overview of collaborative writing with GitHub.

Useful Resources