Git Basics for Analysts and Statisticians

A hands-on, checklist-based introduction to Git and GitHub for people who work with data, reports, scripts, and analysis files.

This course is designed for learners adopting Git while normal work is still moving: reports are due, staffing may be tight, and confidence matters. It avoids long lectures and focuses on small repeatable tasks that answer four practical questions:

What does Git know? → What changed? → What does GitHub have? → What happens next?

Who this is for

• Statisticians, analysts, epidemiologists, evaluators, and public health data teams
• People who collaborate on scripts, documentation, reports, SQL, or reproducible analysis projects
• Beginners who have watched videos or attended group sessions but need guided practice that sticks

What learners will be able to do

By the end, learners should be able to:

• Explain the difference between Git and GitHub
• Clone a repository from GitHub
• Check repository status
• Review changes with git diff
• Stage and commit specific changes
• Understand that git push sends commits and does not commit file changes
• Push local commits to GitHub
• Pull updates from GitHub
• Create and use branches
• Open, update, review, and merge pull requests
• Follow a safe beginner workflow without losing work

Website

This repository publishes as an Astro Starlight site at:

https://biginformatics.github.io/git-basics/

Local preview:

npm install
npm run dev

Build check:

npm run build

How to use this course

Each lesson is meant to be completed with Git open on the learner's computer. The goal is not to memorize commands. The goal is to practice the same workflow enough times that it becomes familiar.

Recommended format:

1. Read the lesson goal.
2. Complete the checklist.
3. Run the commands yourself.
4. Pause after each command and read what Git says.
5. Write down what happened.
6. Repeat the practice task before moving on.

Lessons

1. Lesson 01 — What Git and GitHub Are
2. Lesson 02 — Setup and First Orientation
3. Lesson 03 — Cloning a Repository
4. Lesson 04 — Status, Staging, and Commits
5. Lesson 05 — Pushing and Pulling
6. Lesson 06 — Branching
7. Lesson 07 — Pull Requests
8. Lesson 08 — A Complete Beginner Workflow

Practice materials

• Practice checklist
• Template practice repositories
• Facilitator guide
• Command cheat sheet
• Glossary

Teaching philosophy

Git sticks when learners connect commands to a simple mental model:

update main → branch → edit → status → diff → add → commit → push → pull request

For beginners, confidence matters more than speed. Encourage small commits, frequent git status, and lots of repetition.