Reading time: 9 minutes
Imagine you're writing a report. You make a copy called report-v2.docx, then report-final.docx, then report-FINAL-final.docx, then report-actually-final-this-time.docx. Sound familiar?
Now imagine doing that with code — dozens of files, all changing at different times, sometimes needing to undo changes from three days ago while keeping today's work. That's the problem version control solves.
Git is a version control system. It tracks every change you make to your project, lets you go back to any previous version, and makes it safe to experiment because you can always undo. It's like having an unlimited "undo" button for your entire project, with a detailed history of what changed, when, and why.
GitHub is a website that hosts Git projects online. Think of Git as the tool on your computer, and GitHub as the cloud backup and sharing platform. You can use Git without GitHub, but most people use them together.
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