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Git & GitHub for Developers·Lesson 3 of 5

GitHub Workflow

GitHub is where Git becomes collaborative. It hosts your repositories in the cloud and provides tools for code review, issue tracking, and project management.

Working with Remotes

A remote is a copy of your repository hosted on a server. When you clone a repo, Git automatically adds the source as a remote called origin:

# View configured remotes
git remote -v

# Add a remote
git remote add origin https://github.com/username/project.git

# Change the URL of a remote
git remote set-url origin https://github.com/username/new-project.git

Pushing and Pulling

Push sends your local commits to the remote:

# Push and set upstream tracking
git push -u origin main

# After tracking is set, just push
git push

Pull fetches remote changes and merges them into your branch:

# Fetch and merge
git pull

# Fetch only (doesn't change your working directory)
git fetch

# Pull with rebase instead of merge
git pull --rebase

Use git fetch when you want to see what's new on the remote without modifying your local branches. Then inspect and merge manually if needed.

Pull Requests

A pull request (PR) is a proposal to merge one branch into another. It's the heart of collaboration on GitHub.

Creating a Pull Request

  1. Push your feature branch to GitHub:
git push -u origin feature/search-bar
  1. Go to your repository on GitHub and click "Compare & pull request"
  2. Fill in the title and description
  3. Select reviewers and labels
  4. Click "Create pull request"

You can also create PRs from the command line with the GitHub CLI:

gh pr create --title "Add search bar" --body "Implements full-text search with filtering"

Writing Good PR Descriptions

A good PR description helps reviewers understand the context:

## Summary
Add search functionality to the blog with full-text filtering.

## Changes
- Add SearchBar component with debounced input
- Implement search index using Fuse.js
- Add search results page with highlighted matches

## Testing
- Tested with 100+ blog posts
- Verified keyboard navigation works
- Tested on mobile and desktop

Code Review

Code review catches bugs, shares knowledge, and maintains code quality.

As a Reviewer

  • Read the PR description first to understand the goal
  • Look at the overall approach before nitpicking details
  • Be specific in feedback — suggest alternatives, not just "this is wrong"
  • Approve when it's good enough, not when it's perfect

Requesting Changes

Leave comments on specific lines by clicking the + button next to any line in the diff. Use "Request changes" for blocking issues and "Comment" for suggestions.

Addressing Feedback

Push new commits to the same branch — the PR updates automatically:

# Make changes based on review feedback
git add src/search.js
git commit -m "Use debounced input for search"
git push

Issues

Issues track bugs, feature requests, and tasks:

# Create an issue with GitHub CLI
gh issue create --title "Search results don't highlight matches" --label "bug"

# List open issues
gh issue list

# Close an issue
gh issue close 42

Linking Issues and PRs

Reference issues in commit messages or PR descriptions to link them:

git commit -m "Add search highlighting

Fixes #42"

When the PR is merged, issue #42 will be closed automatically. Keywords that trigger auto-close: fixes, closes, resolves.

Forking and Contributing to Open Source

To contribute to a project you don't own:

  1. Fork the repository on GitHub (creates your own copy)
  2. Clone your fork locally:
git clone https://github.com/your-username/project.git
  1. Add the original repo as an upstream remote:
git remote add upstream https://github.com/original-owner/project.git
  1. Create a branch, make changes, push to your fork, and open a PR against the original repo.

Keep your fork up to date:

git fetch upstream
git switch main
git merge upstream/main
git push origin main