Git Video Tutorials

Git is the most commonly used distributed version control application across every web development and software engineering industry. The program lets users collaborate with other developers on coding projects and document and archive all of the team's changes to a project. Watching video tutorials online is a popular method of learning Git. Videos are helpful for students hoping to learn Git without having to invest a great deal of time in formal training or who want to be able to learn Git at their own pace. This article will cover a range of videos, including what they teach and where to find them.

What is Git?

Git is an open-source programming tool that allows users to effortlessly track the changes made during the early stages of software development. It allows individual programs to keep a record of the changes that they have made to easily restore or back-up earlier versions of their code and it allows teams of developers to record the changes that individual members make to a file or program. Designed to support distributed non-linear workflow, Git allows programmers to create non-linear histories and branched records of how a program has been developed over its time in Git.

Developed in 2005 for Linux, Git has since become one of the most commonly used distributed version control software. In 2022, nearly 94% of computer programmers report using Git as a vital part of their regular programming activities. This means that learning Git is an important skill for anyone hoping to undertake collaborative development projects, particularly in open-source communities where it is expected that many development histories will be documented using Git.

Read more about what Git is and why you should learn it. 

What Can You Do with Git?

Git can be used to ensure that you have a detailed record of all the changes being made to a file of code. Individual users can take advantage of this documentation to quickly restore or reconstruct prior versions of code or to see where specific changes were made if those changes came with unintended consequences. Groups of developers can use Git to collaborate more effectively on a shared file as the system will keep track of all the changes made independently, providing a stable record of how each developer impacted the file over time.

In addition, thanks to the prevalence of GitHub, learning Git will significantly expand a developer's ability to store and share their software. Since each instance of Git on a computer stores its own directory and history, the documentation on your programs is not operating at the whims of an external source or mainframe, making the histories far more stable. In addition, GitHub lets users publish and share code effortlessly, making community-driven collaboration all the more productive. Git and GitHub help fuel community-driven software development, and learning how to use these tools will ensure that you, too, can participate in these projects.

Why Are Video Tutorials Helpful When Learning Git?

Video tutorials are a great place to start learning Git if you are a student who has a background in computer programming and wants a targeted Git education. As an open-source program used in several different collaborative contexts, programmers and service providers have produced a wide array of excellent video tutorials introducing students to the basic functionalities of Git.

Not only are Git videos useful for students who want to target their training, but they are also helpful for students who need to learn at their own pace. Often, students will need to learn Git because they are working on a project requiring them to, either for documentation or collaboration purposes. These students won’t have the luxury of waiting to enroll in an elaborate training program, and consulting video tutorials is a great way to learn how to use elements of Git quickly.

Types of Git Videos

There are essentially two major kinds of Git video courses. The first are courses designed to teach students how to use Git as part of a more extensive web development training program. In a professional training environment, Git is rarely learned on its own. Instead, students taking web development or programming courses will learn the basic principles of Git during their lessons. Students looking to learn more about Git without committing to a development course will want to consider the free options available. Noble Desktop offers a brief tutorial on their What is Git & What is GitHub seminar on their official YouTube page. This course will give students an overview of the basic features and functions of Git, making it an ideal place to start learning how to use the software application. It also sets students up for more elaborate web development training.

The second kind of Git training video is a focused Git training course that presumes prior coding knowledge and doesn’t seek to position Git within a larger training environment. These courses attempt to be straightforward and teach students exactly how to use Git as a web development or software engineering tool. These videos best suit students looking to improve their existing knowledge base by becoming more proficient coders by learning Git.

Lastly, some videos will teach students how to use GitHub, while others will focus strictly on Git. Learning to use GitHub is another important efficiency tool for professional and hobbyist programmers, but students should know that they are not the same. Learning both will be useful, but it can be confusing early on in the process. Noble’s video is a good starting point to determine which kinds of Git-related skills you’ll want to pick up.

Why Learn Git?

Since its public release in 2005, Git has become the world's most popular distributed version control application. Self-reporting numbers suggest that more than 90% of all developers regularly use Git to document and track program changes. This means that learning how to use Git will be essential for anyone hoping to collaborate with other programmers on software development or take advantage of other open-source software development resources, as the documentation for those programs is likely to be documented using Git. This makes learning Git a valuable skill for programmers with personal and professional development aspirations.

Learning Git is also helpful for personal development and storage. Since it is a non-linear distribution application, each version of Git that runs on a personal machine stores an entire repository of data concerning every version of every program it has been used to document. This means that the documentation storage isn’t reliant on a central server or main network, meaning that the files can be accessed without an internet connection and are less likely to be lost in the event of a network failure. Learning Git will help improve your workflow and ensure your data is well-maintained and stored in safe, durable locations.

Read more about why you should learn Git. 

How Difficult is It to Learn Git?

Git is a relatively approachable program for anyone with a computer science background who understands the documentation it is being used to track. If you have programming experience, picking up Git won’t be much of a problem. For students learning to program while learning Git, it can be a more daunting task, as it is adding another complicated technical skill on top of an early coding education. It isn’t impossible to learn Git without much prior programming knowledge. Still, students will find that the two concepts strongly correlate and that the more comfortable they get with coding, the more comfortable they become with Git.

While there are no formal prerequisites to learning Git, because it is a tool to streamline workflow and make the process of software development more accessible and more efficient, there isn’t any reason to learn Git without knowing how to program. This is why many professional training programs teach Git as part of their web development curriculum. Technically you don’t need to know how to code to learn Git, but coding is a prerequisite to using Git. 

Git is an open-source application that runs on all major operating systems. It can be downloaded from Git’s main webpage.

Read about how difficult it is to learn Git.

Learn Git with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Since Git is an open-source efficiency tool, you’ll rarely find a course that strictly teaches students how to use it. Instead, students will learn Git as an essential complementary skill in more formal web development or programming course. This means that students looking to learn are aspiring to be programmers or developers, meaning that web development training will likely be a part of their future. To assist with this, Noble offers a wide variety of web development courses designed to fit your needs as a student.

At Noble, students can learn Git as part of their front end development training curriculum. In these training courses, students will learn the techniques required to program the client-facing, interactive web application elements, such as a webpage. In these classes, students will primarily focus on learning how to program using HTML/CSS and JavaScript, though advanced courses will also teach languages like React. In Noble’s Front End Web Development Certificate program, students will receive hands-on training in several important web development skills, including tracking and managing file changes using Git. With this training, students will be able to see how their programs develop over time, documenting a history of their work, and they will be able to see how Git is used to assist them in collaborative development projects. Since this is a career-focused course, the class assumes no prior coding experience, making this a good place to start for students hoping to enter the field of web development.

Noble also offers a more immersive Full Stack Web Development Certificate program that will teach students all the skills needed to work as Full Stack Web Developers (developers who handle both the client- and server-side elements of a webpage). While a part of this will be learning how to use Git to track and document changes to code, the vast majority of the course is comprised of intensive web development training courses in which students will learn HTML/CSS, JavaScript, Node, Express, MongoDB, React, and SQL. This course is perfect for anyone who wants to learn all the essential aspects of web development. Since this is a career-focused course, students will receive professionalization assistance, including one-on-one career mentorship and portfolio-building seminars.