Skip to main content

Introduction to Git

This course is an introduction to version control with Git for data scientists.

Start Course for Free
4 Hours46 Exercises116,821 Learners3650 XP

Create Your Free Account

GoogleLinkedInFacebook

or

By continuing, you accept our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy and that your data is stored in the USA. You confirm you are at least 16 years old (13 if you are an authorized Classrooms user).

Loved by learners at thousands of companies

Course Description

Version control is one of the power tools of programming. It allows you to keep track of what you did when, undo any changes you decide you don't want, and collaborate at scale with other people. This course will introduce you to Git, a modern version control tool that is very popular with data scientists and software developers, and show you how to use it to get more done in less time and with less pain.

  1. 1

    Basic workflow

    Free

    This chapter explains what version control is and why you should use it, and introduces the most common steps in a common Git workflow.

    Play Chapter Now
    What is version control?
    50 xp
    Where does Git store information?
    50 xp
    How can I check the state of a repository?
    50 xp
    How can I tell what I have changed?
    100 xp
    What is in a diff?
    50 xp
    What's the first step in saving changes?
    100 xp
    How can I tell what's going to be committed?
    100 xp
    Interlude: how can I edit a file?
    100 xp
    How do I commit changes?
    100 xp
    How can I view a repository's history?
    50 xp
    How can I view a specific file's history?
    50 xp
    How do I write a better log message
    100 xp
  2. 2

    Repositories

    This chapter digs a little deeper into how Git stores information and how you can explore a repository's history.

    Play Chapter Now
    How does Git store information?
    50 xp
    What is a hash?
    50 xp
    How can I view a specific commit?
    50 xp
    What is Git's equivalent of a relative path?
    50 xp
    How can I see who changed what in a file?
    50 xp
    How can I see what changed between two commits?
    50 xp
    How do I add new files?
    100 xp
    How do I tell Git to ignore certain files?
    50 xp
    How can I remove unwanted files?
    100 xp
    How can I see how Git is configured?
    50 xp
    How can I change my Git configuration?
    100 xp
  3. 3

    Undo

    Since Git saves all the changes you've made to your files, you can use it to undo those changes. This chapter shows you several ways to do that.

    Play Chapter Now
    How can I commit changes selectively?
    100 xp
    How do I re-stage files?
    100 xp
    How can I undo changes to unstaged files?
    100 xp
    How can I undo changes to staged files?
    100 xp
    How do I restore an old version of a file?
    100 xp
    How can I undo all of the changes I have made?
    100 xp
  4. 4

    Working with branches

    Branching is one of Git's most powerful features, since it allows you to work on several things at once. This chapter shows you how to create and manage branches.

    Play Chapter Now
    What is a branch?
    50 xp
    How can I see what branches my repository has?
    50 xp
    How can I view the differences between branches?
    50 xp
    How can I switch from one branch to another?
    100 xp
    How can I create a branch?
    100 xp
    How can I merge two branches?
    100 xp
    What are conflicts?
    50 xp
    How can I merge two branches with conflicts?
    100 xp
  5. 5

    Collaborating

    This chapter showcases how Git allows you to share changes between repositories to collaborate at scale.

    Play Chapter Now
    How can I create a brand new repository?
    100 xp
    How can I turn an existing project into a Git repository?
    100 xp
    How can I create a copy of an existing repository?
    100 xp
    How can I find out where a cloned repository originated?
    50 xp
    How can I define remotes?
    100 xp
    How can I pull in changes from a remote repository?
    100 xp
    What happens if I try to pull when I have unsaved changes?
    100 xp
    How can I push my changes to a remote repository?
    100 xp
    What happens if my push conflicts with someone else's work?
    100 xp

Collaborators

filipschFilip Schouwenaars
DataCamp Content Creator Headshot

DataCamp Content Creator

Course Instructor

DataCamp offers interactive R, Python, Spreadsheets, SQL and shell courses. All on topics in data science, statistics, and machine learning. Learn from a team of expert teachers in the comfort of your browser with video lessons and fun coding challenges and projects.
See More

What do other learners have to say?

I've used other sites—Coursera, Udacity, things like that—but DataCamp's been the one that I've stuck with.

Devon Edwards Joseph
Lloyds Banking Group

DataCamp is the top resource I recommend for learning data science.

Louis Maiden
Harvard Business School

DataCamp is by far my favorite website to learn from.

Ronald Bowers
Decision Science Analytics, USAA