Git

This Chapter assumes you have already installed the git software, as described here.

In practice we refer to the repository stored on our computer as the local repository. This is where we typically spend most of our time working on our code, debugging it and running analysis.

The repository on GitHub is our remote repository. This can be considered the backup of the files in our repository. When working with multiple people, it can also be considered the most current version of the project. For example, you may be working on improving some plot, whereas a colleague is updating the Python script running your model. You will use the local repository to develop your particular task, and the remote repository to collect everyone elses work and deploy it to your local computer (if you need to use it there). In education, the remote repositories are used to share your work with your teacher.