Introduction to GitHub for Technicians

This online session is part of the ITSS WinterFest 2026 programme; open to technical staff working in Higher Education and Research Education Institutions in the UK.

Find out what git and GitHub are, why you might want to use them and how they can be valuable tools for technicians (and indeed anyone) working with code or other text-based content.

Ever written a short script in Python or another language, tried to improve it and then broken it?! Ever wished you could rewind time and get back to the version of your software you had two days ago that was working just fine? Software version control tools, of which git is currently the most popular, let you do just that, and a whole lot more. In this session We’ll introduce the basics of the git version control system and GitHub - an online cloud-based code and project management platform. We’ll cover:

• What git and GitHub are.

• How they work and the benefits of version control.

• Why you might want to use them.

• The basics of using git and storing your work on GitHub from the command line / terminal.

• The benefits of git/GitHub for collaborative coding.

• A brief overview of the many additional features GitHub provides for managing code and software projects.

You will be required to undertake some pre work and preparation to get the most out of this course. This will be sent to you following registration.

git and GitHub are huge topics that could fill many days of training material. As such, this short session is intended to provide you with a high-level overview, key concepts and some initial familiarity with the tools so you can take your skills forward at your own pace. At the end of this session, you will:

• Understand what git and GitHub are (and how they differ).

• Know if/how they might be useful for you in your work.

• Understand the basics of how git works.

• Have some familiarity with the GitHub website, how to navigate it and what functionality it provides.

This workshop will include:

• Introductory/background Information delivered via presentation slides. (approximately 20 minutes)

• An interactive session – an instructor-led tutorial to learn how to use the tools on your own computer. (approximately 50 minutes)

• Questions and discussion (approximately 15 minutes)

The structure of this session builds on the “Byte-sized Research Software Engineering (RSE)” short-format training developed under the UNIVERSE-HPC project.

This will be an online session using Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent prior to the session as a diary invitation.

If you book on this session we suggest that you:

• Talk to your line manager and ask them if it would be possible to find cover for your role at that time

• Book a room away from your normal working area to attend the workshop (if you don't have a laptop available ask your line manager if there is one that you could use temporarily)

This session will not be recorded.

If you are having problems with making your attendance a priority, please let us know so we can work to help support you. In addition if you have any accessibility issues that we can assist with to allow you to get the most of this online training session please let us know.

🌐 Find out about all our learning and development opportunities for technicians at www.itss.org.uk

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