Git is used across the world to help developers keep track of changes while working on different parts of the same project. Teams are not the only ones to benefit from version control: lone researchers can benefit immensely. Keeping a record of what was changed, when, and why is extremely useful for all researchers if they ever need to come back to the project later on (e.g., a year later, when memory has faded).

Version control is the lab notebook of the digital world: it’s what professionals use to keep track of what they’ve done and to collaborate with other people. Every large software development project relies on it, and most programmers use it for their small jobs as well. And it isn’t just for software: books, papers, small data sets, and anything that changes over time or needs to be shared can and should be stored in a version control system.

Requirements: Bring your own laptop and install git: https://git-scm.com/downloads

In this lesson we use Git from the Unix Shell. Some previous experience with the shell is expected, but isn’t mandatory.