What is GitHub?

GitHub is a website where people can store, share, and work together on computer code. It keeps track of every change made to the code so teams can see who did what and can easily combine their work.

Let's break it down

  • GitHub: a place on the internet for code, like a digital library.
  • Online: you can reach it from any computer with internet.
  • Host: it holds (stores) your files so you don’t need your own server.
  • Code: the instructions that tell computers what to do.
  • Collaboration: many people can work on the same project at the same time.
  • Version control: a system that records every change, so you can go back to older versions.
  • Repositories (repos): folders on GitHub that contain all the files for one project.
  • Issues: a way to write down bugs, ideas, or tasks that need attention.
  • Pull requests: a request to add your changes into the main project after review.

Why does it matter?

It lets beginners and professionals keep their code safe, see the history of their work, and team up with others without worrying about losing anything. This makes learning, building, and sharing software much easier.

Where is it used?

  • Open-source projects like Linux, React, or TensorFlow where anyone can contribute.
  • Companies’ internal software teams use it to coordinate development across many developers.
  • Students and teachers use it for class assignments and collaborative learning.
  • Job seekers showcase their coding projects in a public portfolio for recruiters.

Good things about it

  • Free public hosting makes sharing projects simple.
  • Built-in tools (issues, pull requests, wikis) support teamwork and project management.
  • Automatic backup and history protect against lost work.
  • Large community provides tutorials, templates, and help.
  • Integrates with many other services (CI/CD, project boards, code editors).

Not-so-good things

  • New users may find Git commands and concepts confusing at first.
  • Private repositories are limited or require a paid plan for larger teams.
  • Large binary files (e.g., videos, compiled libraries) don’t work well without extra setup.
  • Dependence on internet access; offline work needs extra steps.