Open Scientific Code using Git and GitHub

A collection of explanations and short practical exercises to help researchers learn more about version control and open source software. Here are some accompanying slides.

1. What is open source?
   • Define open source vs. free software, discuss licencing.
2. What is version control?
   • Define version control & discuss it purpose.
3. Practical exercises with Git & GitHub
   • Practical exercise: Let’s get started with Git
     • Setting up a repository and uploading it
     • Pushing and pulling changes.
   • Practical exercise: Cloning and Collaborating
     • Share a GitHub repository and collaborate with colleagues using pushes and pull requests.
   • Practical exercise: Website with GitHub pages
     • Still not sold on using GitHub? You can use it to make a website with relatively low effort
   • Practical exercise: Trying more advanced things
     • Extra stuff to investigate when you’re comfortable with the first few lessons
4. What makes an open source project good?
   • Learn to make your software useful for you and for others - add readmes, running docs, contributor guidelines, etc.
5. Getting started contributing to other projects
   • A good way to learn open project norms is by contributing to other projects. Here’s how to find ways to contribute.
6. Additional resources
   • excited by the thought of getting involved in the open scientific code community? Lots of good links to follow up.

Group exercises

If you’re working on these in a group, you could also try these group exercises out. Break into groups of 4 to 7 people.

1. Discuss open source
   • Working openly with software and data: pros, cons, and pondering points.
2. Review open source projects
   • Look at an open source project you’re interested in. Can you figure out how to contribute?