Git & GitHub — Student-Friendly Guide
This page collects all your Git notes in one place: from initializing a repository to pushing real projects like Cheap_Flight_Finder and Django Store.
Overview
When you start a Git-enabled project for the very first time, you need to:
- Initialize Git in your project folder
- Track files
- Make the first commit
- Connect to GitHub and push
git init
git status
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git remote add origin https://github.com/your-username/your-repo.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin mainThis prepares your local folder and uploads it to your GitHub repository for the first time.
Daily workflow
Whenever you make changes to your project, use this short routine:
- Check what changed —
git status - Stage changes —
git add . - Commit with a clear message
- Push to GitHub
git status
git add .
git commit -m "Short description of changes"
git pushMorning routine
When you come back to a project another day, always:
- Go to the project folder
- Activate virtual environment (if you use one)
- Pull from GitHub first (very important)
- Then continue with coding and normal Git steps
cd project-folder
venv\Scripts\activate # if needed
git pull origin main
git status
git add .
git commit -m "Today's updates"
git push
Rule: always git pull before starting new work, especially if you use the same repo on multiple computers.
Why .gitignore?
Some files should never go to GitHub: virtual environments, cache files, local databases,
secrets and editor config. For a Django project, a simple .gitignore can look like this:
venv/
__pycache__/
*.pyc
*.pyo
*.pyd
*.sqlite3
*.log
.vscode/
.env
*.env
.DS_Store
Thumbs.dbThis keeps your repository clean and protects sensitive data like environment variables.
📌 Example 1 – Python Homework Push (SyntaxError folder)
Single file homework pushed to GitHub.
cd "C:\Users\Alvin\Desktop\İt_step\Homeworks\SyntaxError"
git init
git add module_branching_statements_part_1.py
git commit -m "day_3"
git push -u origin main📌 Example 2 – Django Store Project
Full Django project pushed to a GitHub repo.
cd C:\Users\Alvin\Desktop\django_web\core
git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial Django store project"
git remote add origin https://github.com/elvin-babanli/Django-store.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main📌 Example 3 – Cheap Flight Finder (with .env in .gitignore)
Python app with API keys safely ignored using .env.
cd "C:\Users\Alvin\Desktop\İt_step\apps\Cheap_Flight_Finder"
git init
echo .env > .gitignore
# add safe ignores
.env
__pycache__/
.vscode/
*.pyc
git add app.py .gitignore
git commit -m "Added app.py and .gitignore"
git remote add origin https://github.com/elvin-babanli/Cheap_Flight_Finder.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin mainDanger zone
Sometimes you might want to completely remove Git tracking from a folder (for example, to re-init or if you accidentally initialized in the wrong place).
.git folder.
All commit history will be lost in this local repo.
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force .git