Hello World GitHub Guides https://guides.github.

com/activities/hello-world/

Video Guides GitHub Help GitHub.com

Hello World
10 minute read

Intro
The Hello World project is a time-honored tradition in
What is GitHub?
computer programming. It is a simple exercise that gets
Create a Repository
you started when learning something new. Lets get
Create a Branch
started with GitHub!
Make a Commit
Youll learn how to: Open a Pull Request

Create and use a repository Merge Pull Request

Start and manage a new branch

Make changes to a file and push them to GitHub as
commits
Open and merge a pull request

What is GitHub?
GitHub is a code hosting platform for version control

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and collaboration. It lets you and others work together on projects from
anywhere.

This tutorial teaches you GitHub essentials like repositories, branches, commits,
and pull requests. Youll create your own Hello World repository and learn
GitHubs pull request workflow, a popular way to create and review code.

No coding necessary

To complete this tutorial, you need a GitHub.com account and Internet access.
You dont need to know how to code, use the command line, or install Git (the
version control software GitHub is built on).

Tip: Open this guide in a separate browser window (or tab) so you can see it
while you complete the steps in the tutorial.

Step 1. Create a Repository

A repository is usually used to organize a single project. Repositories can
contain folders and files, images, videos, spreadsheets, and data sets anything
your project needs. We recommend including a README, or a file with
information about your project. GitHub makes it easy to add one at the same
time you create your new repository. It also offers other common options such as
a license file.

Your hello-world repository can be a place where you store ideas,

resources, or even share and discuss things with others.

To create a new repository

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1. In the upper right corner, next to your username, click and then click New
repository.
2. Name your repository hello-world .
3. Write a short description.
4. Select Initialize this repository with a README.

Click Create repository.

Step 2. Create a Branch

Branching is the way to work on different versions of a repository at one time.

By default your repository has one branch named master which is considered
to be the definitive branch. We use branches to experiment and make edits
before committing them to master .

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When you create a branch off the master branch, youre making a copy, or
snapshot, of master as it was at that point in time. If someone else made
changes to the master branch while you were working on your branch, you
could pull in those updates.

This diagram shows:

The master branch

A new branch called feature (because were doing feature work on this
branch)
The journey that feature takes before its merged into master

Have you ever saved different versions of a file? Something like:

story.txt
story-joe-edit.txt
story-joe-edit-reviewed.txt

Branches accomplish similar goals in GitHub repositories.

Here at GitHub, our developers, writers, and designers use branches for keeping
bug fixes and feature work separate from our master (production) branch.
When a change is ready, they merge their branch into master .

To create a new branch

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1. Go to your new repository hello-world .

2. Click the drop down at the top of the file list that says branch: master.
3. Type a branch name, readme-edits , into the new branch text box.
4. Select the blue Create branch box or hit Enter on your keyboard.

Now you have two branches, master and readme-edits . They look
exactly the same, but not for long! Next well add our changes to the new branch.

Step 3. Make and commit changes

Bravo! Now, youre on the code view for your readme-edits branch, which
is a copy of master . Lets make some edits.

On GitHub, saved changes are called commits. Each commit has an associated

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commit message, which is a description explaining why a particular change was

made. Commit messages capture the history of your changes, so other
contributors can understand what youve done and why.

Make and commit changes

1. Click the README.md file.

2. Click the pencil icon in the upper right corner of the file view to edit.
3. In the editor, write a bit about yourself.
4. Write a commit message that describes your changes.
5. Click Commit changes button.

These changes will be made to just the README file on your readme-edits
branch, so now this branch contains content thats different from master .

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Step 4. Open a Pull Request

Nice edits! Now that you have changes in a branch off of master , you can
open a pull request.

Pull Requests are the heart of collaboration on GitHub. When you open a pull
request, youre proposing your changes and requesting that someone review
and pull in your contribution and merge them into their branch. Pull requests
show diffs, or differences, of the content from both branches. The changes,
additions, and subtractions are shown in green and red.

As soon as you make a commit, you can open a pull request and start a
discussion, even before the code is finished.

By using GitHubs @mention system in your pull request message, you can ask
for feedback from specific people or teams, whether theyre down the hall or 10
time zones away.

You can even open pull requests in your own repository and merge them
yourself. Its a great way to learn the GitHub Flow before working on larger
projects.

Open a Pull Request for changes to the README

Click on the image for a larger version

Step

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Step

Click the Pull

Request tab, then
from the Pull
Request page,
click the green
New pull request
button.

Select the branch

you made,
readme-edits ,
to compare with
master (the
original).

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Step

Look over your

changes in the
diffs on the
Compare page,
make sure theyre
what you want to
submit.

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Step

When youre
satisfied that
these are the
changes you want
to submit, click the
big green Create
Pull Request
button.

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Step

Give your pull

request a title and
write a brief
description of your
changes.

When youre done with your message, click Create pull request!

Tip: You can use emoji and drag and drop images and gifs onto comments
and Pull Requests.

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Step 5. Merge your Pull Request

In this final step, its time to bring your changes together merging your
readme-edits branch into the master branch.

1. Click the green Merge pull request button to merge the changes into
master .
2. Click Confirm merge.
3. Go ahead and delete the branch, since its changes have been incorporated,
with the Delete branch button in the purple box.

Celebrate!
By completing this tutorial, youve learned to create a project and make a pull
request on GitHub!

Heres what you accomplished in this tutorial:

Created an open source repository

Started and managed a new branch
Changed a file and committed those changes to GitHub

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Opened and merged a Pull Request

Take a look at your GitHub profile and youll see your new contribution squares!

If you want to learn more about the power of pull requests, we recommend
reading the GitHub Flow Guide. You might also visit GitHub Explore and get
involved in an Open Source project

Tip: Check out our other Guides and YouTube Channel for more GitHub
how-tos.

Last updated February, 2016

GitHub is the best way to build and ship software.
Powerful collaboration, code review, and code management for open source and private
projects.

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