GITHUB / LESSON 01

What is Git?

Understanding version control basics

Written by Andrew Lee JenkinsPublished Oct 5, 202610 min readFree lesson

Picture yourself writing a story. You finish chapter one, and then you get the itch to try a different ending. What do you do? You probably save a copy before you start messing with it, so if the new ending flops you can crawl back to the original.

Git does that exact thing for code. It's a tool that saves snapshots of your work, so you can always go back when something breaks (and something WILL break).

Version Control: Like Checkpoints in a Video Game

Ever played a video game that lets you save your progress? You save right before the boss fight, and if you lose, you start over from that checkpoint instead of from the very beginning.

Git works the same way. Every time you save a checkpoint (called a "commit"), Git remembers exactly what your project looked like at that moment.

Why Do We Need Version Control?

Without version control, things get messy FAST. Here's what life looks like without Git.

The old way

my-project.txt
my-project-final.txt
my-project-final-v2.txt
my-project-REALLY-final.txt
my-project-FINAL-FINAL-USE-THIS-ONE.txt

Sound familiar? Yeah, we've all been there.

With Git

You have one file, my-project.txt
Git keeps track of every version behind the scenes
You can see the history of every change ever made
You can jump back to any earlier version instantly

What Git Actually Does

Step 1. Tracks Changes

Git keeps an eye on your project folder. When you tell it to, it takes a snapshot of every file.

Step 2. Stores History

Each snapshot gets saved with a note about what changed. Over time you build up a timeline of your project.

Step 3. Lets You Time Travel

Made a mistake? Hop back to an earlier snapshot. Your work is never lost.

Step 4. Helps You Collaborate

Lots of people can work on the same project. Git keeps track of everyone's changes and helps merge them together.

A Simple Example

Say you're building a website. Here's how Git might track your week.

Day	What You Did	Git Saves It As
Monday	Created homepage	"Add homepage"
Tuesday	Added contact page	"Add contact page"
Wednesday	Changed colors	"Update color scheme"
Thursday	Broke something!	(Git lets you go back to Wednesday)

So on Thursday, when everything's on fire, you use Git to undo your changes and get back to a version that worked.

Key Terms to Know

Repository (repo) - Your project folder that Git is tracking
Commit - A snapshot of your project at a specific moment
History - The timeline of all your commits

And honestly? I'm living proof. I'm an operator, not a developer. I came up through local marketing, not code, and you can get a LOT done with Git when Claude Code runs the commands and you just keep track of what they mean.

Why This Matters for You

Even if Claude Code handles every Git command, understanding version control helps you out.

Feel safe to experiment - You can always undo mistakes
Understand your project's history - See what changed and when
Work with others - Git is how teams work on code together
Talk to developers - "Commit" and "repository" are everyday words in tech

TL;DR

Git is a version control system, which means it saves snapshots of your work
Each snapshot is called a "commit"
You can go back to any earlier commit when something breaks
Git tracks the history of every change to your project
Claude Code handles the Git commands for you

What's Next?

Git saves your work locally, right on your computer. But what if your computer dies? Or what if you want to share your code with someone? That's where GitHub comes in, and next lesson we'll look at how GitHub stores your Git projects online...

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