Git & GitHub Essentials
Set up GitHub, commit like a professional and ship your first repo.
15 lessons · 2 quizzes · 2 projects · about 4.6 hours
What you'll be able to do
- Track your work with Git: commit, branch, merge and undo mistakes safely
- Publish projects on GitHub with a clear README and a clean commit history
- Work with others through pull requests, and fix merge conflicts
- Put a live page on the internet with GitHub Pages
About this course
Every ZeroTheory project is built and scored on GitHub, so this short course comes first. In two weeks you go from installing Git to shipping a web page through a pull request, the way software teams work.
Free, start to finish.
Each week: short videos and notes, a quiz, and one project scored on GitHub.
You need: a laptop or desktop, or an Android phone with the free Termux app. No experience needed.
Week by week
Week 1Git on your computer
What version control is, installing Git, init, add and commit, reading history with log and diff, undoing safely, and .gitignore. Project: a learning-journal repo with clean commits and a README.
- Why version control? Git and GitHub in plain wordsNotes · 7 min
- Install Git and tell it who you areNotes · 10 min
- Your first repository: init, status, add and commitNotes · 12 min
- Reading history: log, diff and showNotes · 9 min
- Undo safely, and keep secrets out with .gitignoreNotes · 11 min
- Week 1 quiz: Git on your computerQuiz · 8 min
- Project: your learning journal on GitHubProject · 60 min
Week 2GitHub and teamwork
Your GitHub profile, push and pull, branches and merging, pull requests, fixing a merge conflict, and GitHub Pages. Project: a profile README and a live GitHub Pages site, shipped through a pull request.
- Make your GitHub profile work for youNotes · 9 min
- Remotes: push, pull and cloneNotes · 11 min
- Branches: try ideas without breaking mainNotes · 11 min
- Pull requests: propose, review and mergeNotes · 12 min
- Fix a merge conflict without panicNotes · 10 min
- Put a page on the internet with GitHub PagesNotes · 10 min
- Week 2 quiz: GitHub and teamworkQuiz · 8 min
- Project: your profile README and a live page, shipped through a pull requestProject · 90 min
Questions
- Is it really free?
- Yes. Sign in and do every lesson, quiz and project without paying.
- Who scores my projects?
- A published rubric, applied the same way to every learner on your own GitHub repository. No AI decides your score, and paying never changes it.
- How long can I use it?
- It's self-paced: your schedule is built from the time you have each day, and you keep access for as long as we offer the course.
- What if it isn't for me?
- Ask within 7 days of paying for a full refund, no questions asked. Refund policy
Not sure where to start?
Answer ten quick questions and we'll build a plan that fits your time, your level and your goal.
Build my free plan