Using Git to Program With Friends: A Complete Guide for Dummies

When I first heard of "Git", I was pretty stunned. In fact  I was pulled in by the fact that I could program with friends, without having to go through the pain of sending tons of emails with attachments  and keeping up to date with the latest source code. I looked online and I found many IDEs (integrated development environments) that were in browser.

It was pretty cool, until I realized there was only so much you could do with them, until they forced you to pay tons of fees.

I needed a solution that would help me.

But first of all let me tell you how I like to program. I use the IDE Eclipse, and I create Java programs and Android Applications and the occasional C++ program.

But best of all, I do it all off my flash drive!!!

Yes, that means I have the Eclipse on my flashdrive, my Eclipse workspace on my flash drive, the Java SDK on my flash drive, and lastly the Android SDK. It all fits pretty snugly. 

You should try this out, for you only need a 8 Gigabyte flashdrive to store all this, and leave enough room for your projects. It's really handy.

But now, lets get back to the point: Git.

When I first tried Git, it was so complex it took me 2 days until I actually sorted everything out and got it to work.

First let me explain what Git is:



Git is an Open source software. Basically, its a tiny software that helps you upload files to an online server, also known as a git repository. From there you can download or clone the files, make changes, and upload or push changes.

Git is extensively used to keep track of changes to a group of documents. Specifically, source code for programs. (However, if can be used for other files like word documents.)

So first things first, you need to obtain a git repository. This can be done easily, as there are a variety of source code hosting services, some popular ones being GitHub and BitBucket.