Category Archives: #git

Blog 1 Version Control

 Version Control in Software Process Management 

I am Dipesh Bhatta, and I am writing this blog entry for CS-348 Software Process Management for Blog Quarter 1. I chose to write about version control and how it is applied in software process management. My chosen resource is an article entitled “What is Version Control?” by Atlassian’s Git tutorials ( https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/what-is-version-control ). This passage explains what version control is, why software projects require it, and how developers use it in practice. 

The passage defines version control as a process that records file changes over time. It allows several people to work on the same project simultaneously without losing work or overwriting each other’s work. Another important advantage is that version control has a complete history of the project, and developers can go back to an earlier version or reverse mistakes when necessary. The article also explains how the older systems, like the centralized ones such as Subversion (SVN), differ from newer distributed systems such as Git. Git has risen to be the most widely used version control system because it offers each developer a full copy of the project; thus, it is reliable and flexible. Apart from this, the article captures the workflows like branching, merging, and pull requests, which make collaboration safer and more structured. 

I used this resource because version control is associated with managing the software process, the subject of CS-348. The course is all about managing software development in an organized fashion, and version control is one of the most important tools used to facilitate this process. I also wanted to understand the reason why version control is crucial and not just how to use it, since understanding its purpose makes me aware of its application in professional software development. 

This article made me realize version control is not just saving code—it is a process of keeping collaboration and advancement. Without it, projects quickly become unmanageable, and you can’t even know who did what to the code. The explanation of Git branches was most helpful because it mirrors what we do in CS-348. Branches allow developers to experiment with new functionality without affecting the original codebase, and this is a clear demonstration of process management in action. 

The article also got me to think about my own working habits. Writing good commitment messages, responsible use of branches, and adherence to a process-based workflow are all habits that enhance collaboration and project quality. These habits will benefit me in group projects from now on and later in professional work. 

In short, version control is an essential part of software process management. It facilitates collaboration, organization, and accountability—all major themes in CS-348. By performing these routines throughout Blog Quarter 1, I am creating technical skills as well as professional routines that will benefit me throughout my career. 

From the blog CS@Worcester – dipeshbhattaprofile by Dipesh Bhatta and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Understanding GitHub

Quarter One Blog

The video I watched is a basic tutorial for GitHub. Corbin, the creator, explains that GitHub is essential for version control and organization, and how important it is when your code becomes more complex. He starts off by explaining what a repository is and how to make one in GitHub. Then, he shows one of his repositories for a project with a working program. He says if he wants to start making changes and adding to the code, he would create a branch to prevent the code from breaking and save a lot of time if he needed to backtrack and fix it. He shows how to make a branch, as well. He provides the basics for what we went over in class and in GitKit chapters and explains how to do it in a slightly different way than what was said in class. I chose this video because I find it useful when I have multiple ways to explain a topic and I can understand it better.

The process for creating a repository is not something that we went in depth on in class, so having Corbin explain how to go through that process was helpful. He touches on what the difference between public and private repositories are. In class and in FOSS applications, they would all be public repositories, but if you were just using GitHub to put your private code in the cloud and for your own version control, a private repository would be more useful.

Corbin provides a visual and explanation for what branches and forks do, but it is not as clear as what was shown in class. Having the different explanations of both is helpful for a deeper understanding. He goes over having a completed branch, how to merge it back to main, and explains what the version control deletions and additions look like. 

Outside of the Software Process Management class, understanding GitHub is super useful in the real world. Other classes, like the Software Development Capstone, will require the understanding of GitHub to complete the final project. A lot of companies use Git for version control and collaboration, and look for those skills on applicants’ resumes. I feel confident and comfortable that I can navigate and use GitHub in my life going forward. 

Last year, I took Software Testing before understanding Git. While I was able to figure it out and get through the class, having the knowledge I do now with the actual process and reasonings of it, I feel like I would’ve spent less time troubleshooting silly issues.

From the blog CS@Worcester – ALIDA NORDQUIST by alidanordquist and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Understanding Git Collaboration: Communities, Upstreaming, and Merge Conflicts

Hello everyone! Welcome back to my blog posts. Today I would be delivering my first Quarter blog post.

For this week’s blog, I decided to read “Git Forks and Upstreams: How-to and a cool tip” from Atlassian Git Tutorials. I picked this article because it connects directly with what we’ve been practicing in class—working locally, pushing changes upstream, staying synchronized, and handling merge conflicts. I also wanted a guide that explained the actual Git commands rather than just high-level concepts, since I’ve been moving away from relying only on graphical interfaces.

Summary of the Resource

The article explains the difference between origin (your fork) and upstream (the original repository you forked from). It walks through how to set up your fork so you can keep it synchronized with the upstream repo, which is especially important when multiple people are contributing. Commands like git remote add upstream <url>, git fetch upstream, and git merge upstream/main are introduced step by step. The tutorial also shares a useful tip for checking how many commits your branch is ahead or behind the upstream, which makes it easier to stay in sync.

Why I Chose This Resource

I chose this article because it fills a gap in my own Git knowledge. Until recently, I mainly used the graphical interface on the side to commit, push, and sync my changes. That worked for basic assignments, but I often felt like I didn’t really understand what was happening behind the scenes. This tutorial helped me connect the dots by showing me the exact commands and explaining why they matter, especially in collaborative projects.

Reflection and Takeaways

This resource helped me see Git as more than just a tool for saving code. it’s really about teamwork. Understanding how to add and pull from upstream makes me feel much more prepared to collaborate on group projects or open-source contributions. I no longer see merge conflicts as something to fear, but as a natural part of multiple people working on the same code.

One big realization for me was how important it is to stay synchronized with upstream. In one project I did before, I once ignored updates for too long, and the merge that followed was messy and stressful. Now I understand that frequent git fetch upstream and git merge calls prevent bigger problems down the road.

Another personal shift was moving away from the GUI. While the interface made Git feel easier at first, I see now that the terminal gives me more power and clarity. Running git status, git log, or checking how far ahead/behind my branch is compared to upstream makes me feel more in control. It’s like going from driving an automatic car to learning manual, I finally understand how things actually work under the hood.

Looking ahead, I know these lessons will help me not only in this class but also in internships and my future career. Whether I’m working on an open-source project or contributing to a company’s codebase, being comfortable with upstream workflows and conflict resolution will make me a stronger and more reliable teammate.

Citation / Link

From the blog CS@Worcester – Rick’s Software Journal by RickDjouwe1 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Semantics Antics

Recently, I came across an interesting blog post titled “A Beginner’s Guide to Semantic Versioning” by Victor Pierre. It caught my attention because I’ve been learning about software development best practices, and versioning is a fundamental yet often overlooked topic. The blog simplifies a concept that is vital for managing software releases and ensuring compatibility across systems. I selected this post because, in my current coursework, semantic versioning keeps appearing in discussions about software maintenance and deployment. I’ve encountered terms like “major,” “minor,” and “patch” versions while working on team projects, but I didn’t fully understand their significance or how to apply them effectively. This guide promised to break down the topic in a beginner-friendly way, and it delivered.

The blog explains semantic versioning as a standardized system for labeling software updates. Versions follow a MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH format, where:

  • MAJOR: Introduces changes that break backward compatibility.
  • MINOR: Adds new features in a backward-compatible way.
  • PATCH: Fixes bugs without changing existing functionality.

The post emphasizes how semantic versioning helps both developers and users by setting clear expectations. For example, a “2.1.0” update means the software gained new features while remaining compatible with “2.0.0,” whereas “3.0.0” signals significant changes requiring adjustments. The author also highlights best practices, such as adhering to this structure for open-source projects and communicating changes through release notes.

Reading this blog clarified a lot for me. One key takeaway is how semantic versioning minimizes confusion during development. I realized that in my past group projects, we sometimes struggled to track changes because we didn’t use a structured versioning approach. If a teammate updated a module, we often didn’t know if it introduced breaking changes or just fixed minor issues. Incorporating semantic versioning could have streamlined our collaboration.

I also appreciated the blog’s simplicity. By breaking down each component of a version number and providing examples, the post made a somewhat abstract topic relatable. It reminded me that software development isn’t just about writing code but also about maintaining and communicating it effectively.

Moving forward, I plan to adopt semantic versioning in my personal projects and advocate for it in team settings. Using clear version numbers will make my code more maintainable and professional, especially as I contribute to open-source projects. If you’re looking to deepen your understanding of software versioning or improve your development workflow, I highly recommend checking out Victor Pierre’s blog. It’s a quick, insightful read that makes a technical topic approachable.

Resource:

https://victorpierre.dev/blog/beginners-guide-semantic-versioning/

From the blog Computer Science From a Basketball Fan by Brandon Njuguna and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Code Review

Source: https://about.gitlab.com/topics/version-control/what-is-code-review/

This article is titled “What is a code review?” As clearly stated by the title, the article explains the processes of code reviewing. “A code review is a peer review of code that helps developers ensure or improve the code quality before they merge and ship it.” Code reviews help in the identification of bugs, increase the overall quality of code, and enhance understanding of the source code. Code review, as suggested in the name, happens after a software developer has finished coding. Code needs to be checked before it is merged into an upstream branch for bugs or conflicts. A code reviewer “can be from any team or group as long as they’re a domain expert. If the lines of code cover more than one domain, two experts should review the code.” Adhering to a solid code review process allows for continuous improvement of code and aims to ensure that faulty code isn’t being implemented for customers/users to see and use. This process isn’t just important for the code itself, but also for all of the team members of a software development project. Whilst reviewing the code, meaningful knowledge of the source code is shared between team members to ensure that it is being implemented properly. The main benefits of the code review process are: the sharing of knowledge, discovering bugs earlier, maintaining compliance, enhancing security, increasing collaboration, and improving code quality. Code reviews allow for maintaining compliance because different developers have different backgrounds and thus different personal processes when they are developing. Code reviews allow these people to get together and maintain a standard coding style. Security is enhanced because “security team members can review code for vulnerabilities and alert developers to the threat. Code reviews are a great complement to automated scans and tests that detect security vulnerabilities.” There are many benefits to code review, but there are some disadvantages, including: longer time to ship, focuses being pulled from other tasks, and large reviews mean longer review times. These can be described as necessary evils due to the sheer amount of positives that code reviews offer in software development.

I chose this article because it was published by GitLab, a software that we are heavily using in class for version control, and I thought that it would be interesting to read this specific topic from the syllabus. Version control softwares such as GitLab allow code reviews to happen, so diving deeper into the topic in an article published by this popular software company was tempting. Before reading this article I understood that code reviews were important to pinpoint any bugs or difficulties before merging code into the upstream, but I never really thought about the implications of security or different development styles. I’ll definitely keep this information in mind during future code reviews on the job to remind myself that bugs aren’t the only important thing during a code review.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Shawn In Tech by Shawn Budzinski and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Why Git

Why is it always git

Photo by RealToughCandy.com on Pexels.com

The version control system that every programmer uses. Even in my computer science class, we had lectures dedicated to Git, the commands in Git, how Git is used, what Git is used for, and just so much Git. The funny thing, is there are other version control systems such as Mercurial, but they aren’t ever brought up they are there but feel overshadowed by git. So the question I am asking now is why Git. So I did some investigating.

The question: what does Git do that is so special compared to other version control systems? Now version control systems can do all sorts of things such as allowing developers to see what has been changed, enable collaborative work, and branch and merge changes to a repo. If multiple can do this, then what does git do differently? An article from Geeks For Geeks lists several. Git can be worked on offline and is resilient because multiple developers can have copies of the repo, and any local repo can be used to restore a project. It also comes with conflict resolution that’s allows one to handle merge conflicts by providing tools to solve those problems. So what about the other systems. Well, GFG got that covered. Here are some comparisons.

Subversion

Compared to Git, the architecture is centralized, one single central repo

Fewer branching and merging options

Better performance

Mercurial

Smaller community compared to Git

Not as much flexibility as Git

Perforce

Can handle very large code base

Not as flexible as Git in terms of merging

Git is Open Source and Free, while Perforce isn’t

That is a decent amount of reasons to use Git over other VCS. I think the community part is important for such a popular system, because if you aren’t too familiar with the commands that come with Git, then you have a lot of people that can help. There are a lot of forums and articles about Git tools out there if you ever need it.

I also feel that the collaborative aspect of Git is, very helpful. A lot of projects have a lot of people working on them, so having something like Git that can handle it and make the task easier is great. Also, the fact that it is accessible helps with that too.

Git being so popular makes a lot of sense now, accessibility, community, and collaboration are what a lot of developers require, and I have to say Git provides that well.

GeeksforGeeks. (2024, September 19). Git vs. other version control systems: Why Git stands out? https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/git-vs-other-version-control-systems-why-git-stands-out/

From the blog Debug Duck by debugducker and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Version Control

Source: https://www.spiceworks.com/tech/devops/articles/what-is-version-control/

This article is titled “What Is Version Control? Meaning, Tools, and Advantages.” The main purpose of version control is to “track the progress of code across development and iterations and also aids in managing changes during the life cycle.” Records are kept of all changes with names, timestamps, and other important information. So, the process by which software code is monitored and the way in which changes are made is called version control. A huge benefit of version control is being able to look at the revision history and determine where problems originated from, and who caused them to happen. This allows for increased efficiency regarding workflow considering that the time required to locate problems is greatly reduced. Another benefit of version control is branching. “Branching is a distinct approach to version control where development programs are duplicated for parallel versions of development while keeping the original and working on the branch or making separate modifications to each.” This allows for enhanced collaboration where development is increased, issues are resolved, and code remains organized. A couple very popular version control tools are Git and GitHub. The creator of Linux, Linus Torvalds, created Git. The memory footprint of Git isn’t vast and is able to follow changes in any files. It is a very simple version control system and as a result is used by top companies such as Google. GitHub is a service that enables development teams to collaborate and keep track of all their code changes in a cloud environment. GitHub is secure and reliable, and as a result is also widely used. Through the use of a version control system the following can be achieved: “streamline merging and branching, examination/experimentation with code, the ability to operate offline, creation of regular/automated backups, communication through open channels.” Overall version control aids in the maintenance of reliable code bases and enforces accountability for effective collaborative development. 

I selected this article because we are actively learning about version control in class right now so I figured it’d be the perfect time to read up on it more. Reading the GitKit chapters has exposed me to different git commands and GitHub usage. It was interesting to read in this article about all of the in-depth benefits that version control offers and clearly showcases why even top companies such as Google use it to optimize their workflow. In future practice, whether it be at a job or while working on an individual project, I will use version control to improve collaboration and the ease of maintenance of my code.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Shawn In Tech by Shawn Budzinski and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Tackling Merge Conflicts with GitKit: A Student’s Guide to Smoother Collaboration

Working on team projects in class has really brought out how tricky merge conflicts can be. Nothing quite like seeing “conflict” pop up after a pull request to slow things down! For this blog entry, I looked into a post called “Mastering Merge Conflicts with GitKit” , which breaks down why merge conflicts happen and shows how to tackle them using GitKit’s built-in tools. Since our course covers version control and team-based coding, I figured learning to manage these conflicts more effectively would make a big difference, not just now but for any future projects.

Summary of the Selected Resource

The post explains why merge conflicts occur in collaborative projects, like when multiple team members edit the same file or branch in different ways. The author points out that conflicts are actually pretty normal in team coding—it’s just part of working with a shared codebase. GitKit’s approach to handling conflicts was the real game-changer for me here. It uses interactive conflict markers, visual diffs, and a guided merge workflow to help developers see exactly where conflicts happen and resolve them without a lot of guesswork. It’s clear from the blog that these features simplify what’s often a frustrating process, making it more manageable and, honestly, less intimidating.

Why I Chose This Resource

I picked this post because merge conflicts have been a big obstacle for me and my project teammates. They always seem to come up at the worst times—right when you think you’re wrapping up! Learning more about practical strategies to handle them seemed like a solid move. Plus, I hadn’t really explored GitKit’s full range of features before, so this gave me a chance to see how it can streamline conflict resolution. With team coding becoming more common in projects, internships, and industry work, knowing about these tools feels pretty essential.

My Takeaways and Reflection

Before reading this, I mostly just knew the basics of handling conflicts through the command line. But after seeing what GitKit offers, I realized how helpful visual tools and conflict markers can be. They make it so much easier to understand what’s causing the conflict and to feel more confident about fixing it. Having a clearer view of what’s happening in the code feels like it will help me avoid mistakes and keep our project moving forward without so much stress.

Looking ahead, I’m definitely going to use these GitKit techniques in my future work. I plan to keep practicing conflict resolution so it becomes second nature and doesn’t disrupt my flow as much. I can see how this will really come in handy, especially when I start working on larger projects or in a professional setting where team collaboration is essential.

Link to the Resource

https://dev.to/htsagara/handling-merge-conflicts-in-git-how-to-fix-and-prevent-them-1m62

From the blog Computer Science From a Basketball Fan by Brandon Njuguna and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

CS448 Sprint 1 – Retrospective

This past Tuesday 2/27/2024 marked the conclusion of Sprint 1 for CS448 – Capstone. My team worked generally well together and we managed to complete all of our assigned tasks as well as some extra we added during the Sprint.

During this Sprint, I was involved in addressing a few different tasks and issues:

Issue spent most time on – “Create General and Pipeline” https://gitlab.com/LibreFoodPantry/client-solutions/theas-pantry/gitlab-profile/-/issues/10. This issue was in the “General” (#gitlab-profile) repository and consisted of three separate parts: 

  1. Moving settings from configuration files set up for integration with Dev Containers to .gitpod.yml extensions for GitPod integration.
  2. Refactoring the ‘commands’ folder to ‘bin’ to keep up with industry standard file naming. This includes updating script paths and .gitlab-ci.yaml environment variables to refer to bin.
  3. Adding the AlexJS linter to pipelines as well as the bin/lint.sh test script file.

Also, as a part of this issue I also implemented some minor typo and similar fixes so that all linters pass for a successful integration pipeline. Originally, these were three separate issues that were combined during the Sprint.

Issue #2 – “Familiarize ourselves with GuestInfoFrontend to Understand What Goes into CheckoutGuestFrontend”

https://gitlab.com/LibreFoodPantry/client-solutions/theas-pantry/inventorysystem/checkoutguestfrontend/-/issues/37. This issue included all team members and was intended to prepare each of us for Sprint 2, during which we intend on tackling some front-end Epics/issues in CheckoutGuestFrontend. So, I reviewed the GuestInfoFrontend repository structure and began to strategize a possible plan of action for building out CheckoutGuestFrontend.

As mentioned, my Team added additional tasks to our Sprint Backlog during the sprint as we found we would have extra time leftover after completing our original tasks. We chose to take on “Verifying that all Thea’s Pantry projects have the correct extensions, linters, and pipeline stages” for the Documentation and General repositories as we had already set up the settings and thereby familiarity with these repos. https://gitlab.com/LibreFoodPantry/client-solutions/theas-pantry/documentation/-/issues/10

https://gitlab.com/LibreFoodPantry/client-solutions/theas-pantry/gitlab-profile/-/issues/12

I created our new issues; we were able to complete the task for the Documentation repo as it was relatively simple in terms of not needing to make many changes/add linters, and make some progress in the General repo but pushed the issue into Sprint 2.

Reflecting back on the sprint, there were a few things that come to mind which worked really well – as a team we scheduled out our tasks well between standups and managed to have full attendance at each. Also, when we needed to add tasks we elected to stay within the repositories we had already been working in and were somewhat familiar with, which was a good choice as switching would have likely wasted time getting familiar with the new repo, as well as wasted time for another team who would have needed to become familiar with ours. 

However, we struggled somewhat with getting used to navigating the GitLab issue board, merges, child issues etc. and sometimes it felt like some team members were in different places where a solution may not have been fully communicated to all teammates. As a team, I feel we can improve on some of our internal communication and do a better job planning out our sprints and creating something of a road map, especially as we prepare for Sprint 2 which is considerably longer than the first. Personally, I think I can improve my time management and also be a bit more involved in the process of planning out our next Sprint and creating issues with relevant descriptions and linking to organize our tasks and get a better feel of how to use GitLab to its maximum potential.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Tech. Worth Talking About by jelbirt and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Week 14 – Blog for both CS-343 AND CS-348

So for this blog, I wanted to find a topic that is applicable to both classes, so I wanted to look more into GitHub and the ways it functions compared to GitLab.

I duplicated by Secret Santa Generator repository from GitLab: https://gitlab.com/worcester/cs/cs-348-01-02-fall-2023/students/bpoole/secret-santa-generator and duplicated it in GitHub here: https://github.com/TempuraShrimple/Secret-Santa-Generator

To do this, I had to open up the local repo on my PC, create a new blank repository on GitHub, and run the following commands:

Once this was done, my repository was transferred over to GitHub successfully, without harming my GitLab repository in any way shape or form. Everything, including the history of the repository, was included with this transfer, which I think is really cool.

One difference I immediately noticed between GitHub and GitLab is that GitHub allows you to add a short description on the right-hand side of the repository, allowing a quick way to figure out what the program intends to do without having to look at the README.md. Obviously if you want more information, the README.md is very important in that case.

Both sites have a really good planning structure, with GitLabs’ issue boards, and GitHub’s project tab, which is structured very similar, but I think GitHub’s might be better as it allows you to choose from a lot of different templates like Kanban, Team retrospectives, and bug tracking, which I think is really cool. You’re also able to customize it as you please, so you’re able to set up a scrum structure like we did in GitLab for many of our projects. However, after looking into it, if you want to utilize Scrum, it seems GitLab is definitely structured better with preset pillars that are made with Scrum in mind. However, it’s a toss up on which would be better to utilize in this case for project management, in my own humble opinion.

GitLab also has some advantages in the construction and development aspects of this comparison, as after looking into it, GitLab is able to automate releases and builds of code once they are ready to be done so, and GitHub doesn’t have this capability at all.

https://about.gitlab.com/competition/github/?stage=Configure

This seems extremely useful for a program that has set deadlines and not enough time to do these things during, say, a Sprint. It allows a lot more flexibility with the work being done in a repo and can allow a lot more efficiency and productivity. I will definitely look into this more later on when I start using this repo I cloned myself.

All in all, after looking things over, it seems like GitLab has a lot of additions that make it better over GitHub in all sorts of ways, and I’m surprised GitHub is used more than it. I should probably introduce my friend I’m working with on GitHub for his game engine for this if he ever develops a much bigger team, as many of the planning-oriented inclusions GitLab has would be extremely beneficial!

From the blog CS@Worcester – You&#039;re Telling Me A Shrimp Wrote This Code?! by tempurashrimple and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.