Question

What is Git and how does it relate to what we're learning here?

Answer 1

in terms of GitHub I mean

Answer 2

Git is a tool for shared development that relies on speed and is non-proprietary software. If I recall correctly, it is used so that many people can work on the same project, without having to be connected on the same network. GitHub is just an implemention of git on a broader sense (the internet). This allows for more people working on a project while being fast.
But really, I am not 100% sure that I covered all the more important aspects of Git/GitHub. maybe someone can give more insight.

Answer 3

Git is a source control tool. It allows several (possibly distributed) developers to make simultaneous modifications in the same code base. It also keeps historical versions of all the source files. It also supports tagging and branching, but those are more advanced concepts.

When you want to work on a code base managed by git you make a local working copy of the source repository, and make your changes there. When you're done, you commit your changes to the repository. If someone else has already committed changes to some piece of code you've also changed, it won't let you commit. You have to then merge those changes into your local working area, clear up any conflicts, then try to commit your changes again. Once you've successfully checked in your changes, other people can update their working areas with the latest code in the repository.

Source control is essential for professional software development. Even when I'm the only person working on a project I'll use source control for it. Apart from providing a centrally located repository for distributed developers, it provides snapshots of previous versions of files, and an easy way to keep a remote backup of your work. When I'm at home I use my desktop for development, but when I travel I use my laptop, so just by myself I constituted a distributed team of developers. And I use assembla for my subversion (I don't use git yet) repository hosting, so I can get to it from anywhere, and so the backup copy of my code is actually offsite.