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Lab 10.1: First Git Repo

397 words

~75 minutes. Initialize a repository, make 3 commits, push to a remote. Verify the history with git log.

Goal: go through the complete Git workflow from init to push with 3 meaningful commits. Understand what the staging area does and why commit messages matter.

Estimated time: 75 minutes

Prerequisites: Week 10 lecture (init, add, commit, push, log); a free GitHub or GitLab account

Setup

If you do not already have a GitHub or GitLab account, create one at https://github.com or https://gitlab.com. Both are free. You will need it for this lab and all future submissions.

Configure Git with your name and email (these appear in your commit history):

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your@email.com"

Part A: Initialize a local repo

mkdir -p ~/fnd-101/lab-10-1/my-first-repo
cd ~/fnd-101/lab-10-1/my-first-repo
git init

Verify: git status should show "On branch main" (or "master") with "nothing to commit."

Part B: First commit

Create a README file and commit it:

cat > README.md << 'EOF'
# FND-101 Lab 10.1

My first Git repository.

Created as part of VCA-FND-101: Digital Foundations.
EOF

git add README.md
git status     # confirm README.md is staged
git commit -m "Initial commit: add README"
git log        # verify the commit appears

Part C: Second commit

Add a second file and commit it:

cat > notes.md << 'EOF'
# Git Notes

git init    - creates a .git directory
git add     - stages changes
git commit  - saves a snapshot
git push    - sends commits to remote
git pull    - fetches remote commits
git log     - shows history
EOF

git add notes.md
git commit -m "Add Git command notes"

Part D: Third commit -- edit an existing file

Modify README.md and commit the change:

echo "" >> README.md
echo "Week 10 notes committed $(date)." >> README.md

git diff README.md    # see the unstaged change
git add README.md
git diff --staged     # see the staged change
git commit -m "Update README with completion timestamp"

After all three commits:

git log --oneline

You should see 3 commits, newest first.

Part E: Push to a remote

  1. Create an empty repository on GitHub or GitLab. Name it fnd-101-lab-10-1. Do NOT initialize it with a README (you already have one locally).

  2. Copy the repository URL (HTTPS or SSH).

  3. Add the remote and push:

git remote add origin https://github.com/yourusername/fnd-101-lab-10-1.git
# or with SSH:
# git remote add origin git@github.com:yourusername/fnd-101-lab-10-1.git

git push -u origin main
# (use 'master' instead of 'main' if that is your default branch name)
  1. Open the repository in your browser. Confirm that all 3 commits are visible in the commit history.

Expected output / artifact

In lab-10-1-notes.txt, paste:

  • The output of git log --oneline after Part D
  • The remote repository URL
  • A screenshot or description of what the repository looks like in the browser (3 commits visible)
git add lab-10-1-notes.txt
git commit -m "lab-10-1: first repo notes"
git push

Common pitfalls

  • "fatal: not a git repository": you ran git in a directory that is not inside a repo. Run git init first, or cd into the correct directory.
  • "reject: non-fast-forward": the remote has commits your local repo does not have. Run git pull first, then push again.
  • Username/password prompt: GitHub stopped accepting password authentication for HTTPS pushes. Use a Personal Access Token (Settings -> Developer Settings -> Personal Access Tokens) as the password, or switch to SSH.
  • "main" vs "master": older Git versions default to "master"; newer ones default to "main". The branch name must match what GitHub/GitLab expects. If they differ, git branch -m master main renames locally.

Stretch (optional)

Create a .gitignore file that ignores *.pyc files and any file named .env. Commit it. Verify that git status does not show a .pyc file you create as "untracked."

Lab 10.1 v0.1.