Commit Your Work

Your work is currently only on the “Rented Desk” (Codespace). It is a Draft. To save it permanently to the “Vault” (GitHub), you must Commit and Push (Send).

The Analogy: Think of this like shipping a package. You have packed the box (saved the file), but now you need to put a label on it and hand it to the courier.

Think of this as a three-step save process:

1. Stage = choose which changed files to include.
2. Commit = save a snapshot with a message.
3. Sync = upload that snapshot to GitHub so it is safely stored online.

Steps

1. Click the Source Control icon

   • It looks like a blue bubble or a connect-the-dots graph on the far left sidebar.
   • This opens the “Shipping Department.” You will see a list of every file you changed.

2. Stage the two Assignment 1 files

   • Hover over practice_report.qmd and practice_report.html, then click the + beside each file.
   • Check the Staged Changes list before continuing. Do not stage unrelated files.

3. Type a Commit Message

   • The Label: You cannot ship a package without a label.
   • What to write: Be descriptive but brief. Imagine you are leaving a note for your future self about what you did.
   • Example: “Updated author name in practice report”.
   • Bad Example: “stuff” or “fix”.

4. Click Commit

   • This records the staged files as one snapshot in the Codespace.

5. Click Sync Changes (or Push)

   • This sends the commit to your GitHub repository.
   • Note: You might be asked to click “Always” or “Yes” to approve the sync.

   

   This will push your changes to the remote branch

Verify (Trust but Verify)

Did it actually work?

1. Go back to your GitHub Repository tab (The Vault).
2. Refresh the page.
3. Look at the file list. You should see your “Commit Message” displayed next to the file you just edited.