Git & GitHub for Real-World Development

📌 Module 1: Introduction to Git & Version Control

• What is Version Control? Why does it matter in production?
• Git vs. GitHub vs. GitLab vs. Bitbucket (When to use each)
• Centralized vs. Distributed Version Control
• Installing Git (Windows/macOS/Linux)
• Configuring Git (git config --global user.name "Your Name", etc.)

🔹 Hands-on Exercise: Install and configure Git, set up SSH keys for GitHub.

---

📌 Module 2: Understanding the Git Workflow

• Working Directory, Staging Area, and Repository (How Git actually works)
• Creating a New Repository (git init)
• Tracking Files & Making Commits (git add, git commit)
• Viewing Changes (git status, git diff)
• Understanding Commit History (git log, git show)

🔹 Hands-on Exercise: Create a new repo, track changes, and commit with meaningful messages.

---

📌 Module 3: Undoing Changes & Recovering Lost Work

• Reverting to Previous Versions
  • git checkout <commit> (temporary switch)
  • git reset --hard <commit> (permanently go back)
  • git revert <commit> (safe rollback without losing history)
• Undoing Commits & Changes
  • git reset --soft HEAD~1 (undo last commit but keep changes)
  • git reset --hard HEAD~1 (undo last commit and discard changes)
  • git restore (discard uncommitted changes safely)
• Recovering Lost Commits (git reflog)

🔹 Hands-on Exercise: Simulate accidental deletions and recover using git reflog.

---

📌 Module 4: Working with Branches & Merging

• Why Branching is Critical for Teamwork
• Creating and Switching Branches (git branch, git checkout, git switch)
• Merging Branches (git merge) & Dealing with Merge Conflicts
• Fixing Merge Conflicts Like a Pro (<<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>>)
• When to Use Fast-Forward vs. Non-Fast-Forward Merging

🔹 Hands-on Exercise: Create feature branches, merge them, and resolve merge conflicts.

---

📌 Module 5: GitHub for Collaboration & Teamwork

• GitHub vs. Local Git: How They Work Together
• Creating a GitHub Repo & Pushing Code (git push origin main)
• Cloning a Repository (git clone)
• Pulling Latest Changes (git pull)
• Understanding git fetch vs. git pull

🔹 Hands-on Exercise: Push a local project to GitHub and collaborate.

---

📌 Module 6: Pull Requests & Code Reviews

• What are Pull Requests? Why Are They Essential?
• How to Fork a Repo & Contribute to Open Source
• Making a Pull Request (PR)
• Reviewing and Approving PRs
• Best Practices for Code Reviews & Team Collaboration

🔹 Hands-on Exercise: Fork a repo, make changes, submit a PR, and review another PR.

---

📌 Module 7: Advanced Git for Production & Troubleshooting

• Stashing Work (git stash) to Temporarily Save Changes
• Cherry-Picking Commits (git cherry-pick <commit>)
• Interactive Rebase (git rebase -i HEAD~N)
• Squashing Commits Before Merging
• Fixing Mistakes with git commit --amend
• The Dangers of git push --force (and how to recover if used wrong)

🔹 Hands-on Exercise: Rebase, squash, and cherry-pick commits in a real project.

---

📌 Module 8: Debugging with Git & Finding Who Broke the Code

• Using git blame to Find Who Changed What
• Finding the Commit That Introduced a Bug (git bisect)
• Rolling Back a Production Bug Fix (git revert vs. git reset)
• Debugging Broken Merges (git merge --abort)

🔹 Hands-on Exercise: Use git bisect to track down a bug in a project.

---

📌 Module 9: Handling Large Repos & Performance Optimization

• Cloning Only Necessary Parts of a Repository (git clone --depth=1)
• Using .gitignore to Improve Speed and Reduce Clutter
• Git LFS (Large File Storage) for Handling Media & Large Binaries
• Cleaning Up Old and Unused Branches (git branch -d & git branch -D)

🔹 Hands-on Exercise: Optimize a bloated Git repo for better performance.

---

📌 Module 10: Automating Git with GitHub Actions

• Introduction to GitHub Actions for CI/CD
• Running Automated Tests Before Merging PRs
• Deploying Code to Production from GitHub
• Creating Custom Workflows with GitHub Actions

🔹 Hands-on Exercise: Set up a GitHub Actions workflow for automated testing.

---

📌 Final Project: Real-World Git & GitHub Workflow

🎯 Goal: Apply everything learned in a real-world team setting.
✅ Work on a team project with feature branches
✅ Implement pull requests & code reviews
✅ Resolve conflicts & debug issues
✅ Set up GitHub Actions for automation
✅ Optimize Git history before merging to main

📌 Bonus Module: Open Source & Git Best Practices

• How to Find Open Source Projects to Contribute To
• Understanding Open Source Licensing (MIT, GPL, Apache, etc.)
• How to Structure a Good Open Source Repository
• Using GitHub Discussions & Issues for Community Collaboration

🔹 Hands-on Exercise: Make your first real open-source contribution.

🚀