GitHub

What is GitHub?

  • A cloud platform for collaborative software development
  • Key features of GitHub:
    • Remote repositories using Git
    • Pull requests (PR)
    • Issues
    • Wikis, Pages, etc.

Pull Request (PR)

  • A pull request is a request to merge changes from a feature branch to the main branch on GitHub
    • Note: PR is not a Git command, but a GitHub feature
  • PR makes the merge process easier and safer than the git merge locally
  • Advantages of PRs
    • Code review
    • Discussion on the changes
    • Conflict detection
    • Integration with issues (tracability of changes)

GitHub Flow

  • A standard workflow for softwre develpment with Git/GitHub
  • Branch rules
    • The main branch should always be deployable.
    • Code changes are made in a feature branch, created from the main branch.
      • For enhancements: :arrow_right: feature/xxx
      • For bug fixes: :arrow_right: fix/xxx
  • The feature branch is pushed to GitHub and a pull request (PR) is created.
  • The PR is reviewed, approved and merged into the main branch.

GitHub Action

  • GitHub Actions is a feature to automate workflows for software development.
  • It can run tests, build and deploy the software, and more.
  • Workflows are defined by a YAML file in the .github/workflows directory of the repository
  • Triggers can include: push events, pull request, issue changes, etc.

Example of GitHub Action YAML file

name: Run Tests and Build
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main # Trigger on push to main branch
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - main # Trigger on pull request to main branch

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest # Use the latest Ubuntu runner (virtual environment)
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v2 # Checkout the code from the repository..
      - name: Set up Go
        uses: actions/setup-go@v2 # Set up Go environment
    ...

GitHub Issues

  • GitHub Issues are used to track bugs, enhancements, and tasks.
  • Issues can be assigned, labeled, commented, and organized with milestones.
  • Issues can be linked to PRs to ensure traceability.

CD/CI (Continuous Deployment/Integration)

  • A software development practice to automate the software development process
  • CD: Continuous Deployment
    • Automatically build and test the code when changes are pushed.
  • CI: Continuous Integration
    • Automatically deploy the application after the code is merged into the main branch.
  • GitHub Actions can be used to implement CD/CI

Note: CD/CI can also be implemented with other platforms such as Jenkins, Travis CI, CircleCI, etc.

Summary

  • GitHub is a cloud platform for collaborative software development
  • Pull requests are used to review and merge code into the main branch
  • GitHub Flow is a standard workflow for team-based development
  • GitHub Actions automate testing and deployment workflows
  • GitHub Issues help manage tasks and changes

CD/CI cannot be implemented without a platform such as GitHub and other tools.