Git & collaboration

A healthy Git workflow does more than preserve files. It makes changes reviewable, protects the shared source of truth and helps the team explain which change introduced a problem. Start with one small branch, verify it, and merge through a reviewed pull request or merge request.

Choose your tool

Practical guides include GitHub Desktop and Git command-line steps. GitHub Desktop is officially available for Windows and macOS; the CLI works on Linux as well. GitHub Projects and reviews happen mainly on the hosting website.

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Git fundamentalsRepository, working tree, staging, commits, remotes and sync.

Branches and protected mainIsolate changes, keep main reliable and publish feature branches.

A healthy daily workflowMove from a small issue to a tested, traceable change.

Pull requests and reviewsReview diffs, verify CI and merge deliberately.

Merge commit, squash or rebase?Compare history, trade-offs and local integration versus PR/MR workflows.

Conflicts and safe recoveryResolve competing edits and protect uncommitted work.

Find when a bug startedInspect blame, bisect, revert and deployment history.

Choose a branching strategyCompare short-lived branches, trunk-based development and GitFlow.

GitHub ProjectsPlan work using views, fields and permissions.

Issues and collaborationLabels, milestones, sub-issues, review etiquette and access.

Project automation and insightsAutomated workflows, filters, charts and reporting.

From issue to releaseFollow a fictional game feature all the way to deployment and rollback.

What is the source of truth?

The protected main branch is the team’s integration reference, not proof that every deployment is correct. Record the exact commit or release tag deployed to an environment. The connection should look like issue → branch → commits → pull request → checks → merge commit → release/deployment. Git records content history; the hosting platform and CI system preserve review and deployment context.

GitHub calls a proposed change a pull request; GitLab calls it a merge request. The underlying review principle is the same, but the controls and permission models differ. Never copy instructions for GitHub branch protection into GitLab without adapting them.

References

• Git reference documentation
• GitHub Desktop documentation
• GitHub Projects documentation
• GitLab merge request documentation

Additional learning

The ComputingForGeeks branching article and Practical GitHub Project Management and Collaboration by Ray Villalobos offer additional perspectives. UI instructions in this library follow current GitHub documentation rather than assuming older courses show the latest interface.

Default branch and remote names

Repositories can use master instead of main. origin is a conventional remote name, and origin/main is your local record of the last fetched remote branch tip. Start with Git terminology before copying commands.