Github

What is a GitHub and why is it important?

GitHub is a software development platform that encourages open source but also private coding projects. With a GitHub account, you can host and view code, manage projects, build software, and chat with millions of other developers. You can obtain unlimited free private repositories when you sign up with a free account. Many companies use GitHub as a way to manage team projects. As a student, it is important to practice using GitHub because many employers will ask about your GitHub experience in job interviews. When you are searching for jobs, your GitHub account is also a great way to show off some of the projects you have worked on individually and in teams, like a portfolio. If you want help with something you are working on, the GitHub forums are a great place to ask questions and get responses from more experienced developers around the world (Stack Overflow is another great resource for getting programming help - you should become familiar with using this website to search for answers to coding problems as well).

Here is a good article that talks about why it is useful for you to have a GitHub when applying for jobs, what makes a good GitHub account, and what potential employers look for.

How do I learn how to use GitHub?

After you have signed up for a GitHub account, you will have access to the Learning Lab where you can complete lessons that teach you how to use the different features of GitHub.

What is a GitHub page?

After you register for a GitHub account, you can use GitHub pages to easily create a website that showcases your projects. You can also post your Resume, which is a good idea when you are ready to look for internships or jobs. You can think of it as a personal website to share with potential employers or anyone you network with. GitHub pages are also used by government agencies like the White House to publish policy; by big companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Netflix to showcase their open source efforts; and by popular projects like Bootstrap, D3, and Leaflet to host their software documentation. Whenever you push to a specially named branch of your repository, the content is run through the Jekyll static site generator and served via its own domain.

How often should you use GitHub?

As for how often you should work on GitHub, there is no specific amount. Rather, the key is consistency. Potential employers want to see you consistently being active with your personal and group projects as that shows initiative, responsibility and creativity to them. When you include your activity on your Github, be sure to make clear what is a personal project and what is a class project. Do not present guided, in-class projects/tutorials as if they are your own work. Ideally, do not include class projects on Github.

Person A

Person B

Person A and Person B have some GitHub postings, but they are all in the past few months. It looks like they may be new to programming or using GitHub, so they may not be ready for a job.

Person C and Person D

Person C and Person D have been contributing to GitHub for some time, so they at least have more programming experiences than A and B. On the other hand, it looks like their activity has dropped off over time with very little posts in the last few months. There is some concern from employers as to why they have not been actively working on programming projects recently.

Ideal Person

This is ideally what employers would want to see from your GitHub account. It shows that you've been programming continuously for a good amount of time. Employers value consistency, but keep in mind employers are not expecting students to have 1472 contributions. They are looking for personal projects and consistency. If your activity has fallen off, be prepared to give a reason why. Keep in mind that this ideal account is not from a professional but rather a passionate student of front-end web development.

If you have questions on what type of projects to make, please click on the button above.

You can find a full list of all the pages on the Handbook here.....