What is GitHub? (And Its Advantages)

According to Semrush, GitHub receives 916.6 million visits. But what exactly is GitHub? Well, it’s a platform where developers can share their code and collaborate on various projects.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a CEO or a developer. Both can work on a project simultaneously. GitHub can be used to store, track, and collaborate on different software projects. It’s also completely free and easy to use.

But who created it? GitHub is the brainchild of Chris Wanstrath, Scott Chacon, Tom Preston-Werner, and P. J. Hyett. It was released in 2008, but it didn’t gain much traction initially. But in 2012, there was a rapid increase in its popularity. Now, almost every developer uses GitHub.

So, how does GitHub function? First of all, you need to create an account. After that, you can do whatever you want. You can upload files, create projects, and more. GitHub is the best platform for collaborative projects. If you want to develop new features or fix bugs, then instead of working on the original code, you should create a branch. This is usually done to prevent the main branch from being affected by changes. Forking is what others can do.

For instance, if there is a public repository and someone wants to add new features, they can fork it. Besides this term, “pull request” is another common term. It’s made when changes to the code have already been made, and developers just need to merge the code files.

So, what more can you do with GitHub? Let’s see:

1. You can edit code and track changes. Facing difficulty while writing code? Use GitHub Copilot.
2. You can paste images.
3. You can close issues.
4. You can link to the code.
5. You can use the command line as a GitHub URL.
6. You can create and easily manage files.

And I am sure that’s why a lot of companies use GitHub. According to Enlyft, at least 664,360 companies around the world are using GitHub. However, the problem is that there are some cons to GitHub as well. For instance, sometimes the pull requests are really tedious. Other times, non-technical users can’t find adequate customer support which can be frustrating.