setting up git

Setting Up git for Data Science

Warning: Using Git/GitHub is optional due to the challenge it may present to students during an intense 5-week course. If a student has experience using Git/GitHub or Command Line tasks then they may attempt to use it. For students who do not have any previous experience using these tools I would recommend not worrying about Git/GitHub since it is not an important tool to use for this class.

To set up git, there are certain commands you will run:

  1. Once for the entire semester (“GitHub Repository Setup”),
  2. Once for each computer you use (“Computer Setup”),
  3. Once each time you work on Data Science assignments (“Assignment Setup”)

GitHub Repository Setup

To begin to work on assignments and turn in work, you will need to create a git repository for the course.

  • Create a new repository in your GitHub account and give it a name with your first name initial, full last name, and “discover”. E.g. wreger-discover
  • Make the repository private and then add Jonas as a collaborator. His GitHub username is wjonasreger.

Computer Setup

  1. On your computer, go to your Desktop (you may need to minimize some windows) and create a datascience folder on your Desktop

  2. Now, going back and using your command line, run the following commands to navigate into your datascience folder:
    • cd Desktop
    • cd datascience
  3. Clone a local copy of your git repository with the following command (making sure to replace YOUR-GIT-REPO-URL with the URL from the “Course Setup” above):
    • git clone YOUR-GIT-REPO-URL
  4. Navigate into your git directory by going into your NetID-named folder:
    • cd YOUR-REPOSITORY-NAME
  5. Let git know who you are REPLACE YOUR NAME and EMAIL with your name/email:
    • git config user.name "Your Name"
    • git config user.email "netid@illinois.edu"

Setup Errors

  • If you experience errors that you can’t resolve during these steps, please visit Jonas during his office hours on Thursdays from 2-4 pm CDT.

Assignment Setup

If a student opts to submit their work via GitHub, then their repository must be private and Jonas added as a collaborator. Each lab assignment would be pushed to the same repository as a new file.

Modified from Wade Fagen-Ulmschneider & Karle Flanagan’s STAT 107 - Fall 2019/Spring 2020 guides with permission.