BIT 300: Get-Set Mobile Github and Android Studio

GIT basics and Best Practices

1. Why Git?

   • There are other version control systems. There are a number of Version Control Systems out there. This alone should prove that version control is incredibly important. Examples are Git, Subversion and Mercurial

   • Git is the most popular and an industry standard.

   • It has some advantages over a centralized system, which has a single copy of the code:

     • It's quick to take action on your own copy
     • It works locally, on your own computer, and offline
     • It makes having multiple branches, parallel worlds of code, easier

     

2. Git Gotchas

   • Git can mean several things - the name of the source control technology, the functionality built into VS Code, the file formats and protocols that underlie the system.
   • It’s both powerful (because it’s open-ended), plentiful (because it’s open source), and sometimes hard to use (because it’s open-ended).
   • It takes practice, it's a learned skill, it's not intuitive - ask other developers about their Git disasters - everyone has a story.

Git Demo Using Git Bash/ Android Studio Terminal

1. Creating new repo and initial commit. The flow for using git starts with creating a directory (folder). The cycle as changes are made is add and commit. Record your changes in small chunks as you go.

   • Configure your git
     • git config --global user.email "youremail"
     • git config --global user.name "yourname"
   • mkdir SampleApp - create new folder named SampleApp
   • cd SampleApp - move to the project folder
   • git init - initialize the repository
   • touch README.md - create a new file
   • git status - view the repository status
   • git add . - stage the files to commit and tell get what files to track, "." selects all the new files or files with changes
   • git commit README.md -m "New readme file" - add the changes to the repo with the named file, "-m" indicates message included

Demo: Git using Android Studio's VCS menu

1. Create a new "Empty Activity" project in Android Studio and use the built-in git support (VCS menu). It doesn't have all the commands of Git Bash or the command line but is convenient when working in Android Studio.

2. Add a TEXT file with a distinctive name (File/New/File)

3. Use "VCS > Enable Version Control Integration" to initialize a repository - choose "Git" as your VCS

4. Follow the git workflow

   • View the repository status: using "Git>Commit" from the menu
   • Stage the files to commit: select the file you created from the list (find it in the Unversioned Files list)
   • Commit the changes with a comment: Type a commit message in the box, like "tests commit process in Android Studio" and click "Commit"

5. Review the effect using the Terminal

   • Open the "Terminal" tab "View > Tool Windows > Terminal"
   • Check out the changes with git log
   • See the difference between git log and git log --oneline

Work with Remote GitHub repositories

use the Canvas document to complete the exercise with a programming partner

1. The person in your team with a GitHub account should "drive" first
2. Fork (button in upper-left corner of) THIS GitHub repository to create a new copy in YOUR GitHub account
3. Open Android Studio; use the menu option "File > New > Project from Version Control" with your GitHub URL
4. Each person in your group should make at least two commits as shown above; use both the Android Studio terminal and Android Studio VCS to work with Git
5. Push your changes to GitHub using the Android Studio "Git > PUSH" menu or the terminal command git push

Submission (one per group )

Submit the URL for the updated GitHub repository in Canvas