What is GitHub?

GitHub is a code hosting platform for version control and collaboration. It lets you and others work together on projects from anywhere. GitHub itself is not a development tool, but rather a file hosting and collaboration site. In many ways, a social network like Facebook. You can build a profile, create projects to share with others, and follow the accounts of other users. GitHub is not linked to any one programming language like R, as you can find all kinds of projects based upon different languages there.

GitHub also runs Git in the background. Git is a version control software, which means it records changes to a file or set of files over time so that you can recall specific versions later. We’ll learn more about Git in the next session.

Creating an account

Signing up for a free account on GitHub is easy and straightforward. Begin by navigating to https://github.com.

Task: Click on the Sign up button in the upper right.


Task: Enter the email address you’d like to associate with your account.

Tip: You can change your email address or add another one later.


Task: Enter a password.


Task: Select a username for your account.

Tip: This will form part of the URL where you will access your account (https://github.com/USERNAME).


Task: Answer a question about electing to receive notices and info from GitHub (you can choose “n”).

Task: Solve a puzzle to confirm you are a human being & GitHub will send you an email with a 6-digit code to enter.


Success: You now have a GitHub account and can start using it for data science.