This lesson is being piloted (Beta version)

What to not add to Git

Overview

Teaching: 5 min
Exercises: 0 min
Questions
  • What should be included in Git repositories?

Objectives
  • Consider the dos and don’ts of Git usage

What to not add to Git

A final note on what should and shouldn’t be included in Git repositories.

In general, Git can describe individual line changes for any sort of file that may be opened within a text editor. This includes many forms of code, documentation, HTML, simple data files, etc., but excludes other binary formats like:

Git may still store these files, but any version history would be less meaningful, without clear ‘diffs’.

More importantly though, Git repositories should not be used to store:

Remember to make use of .gitignore files to ignore and exclude files as necessary.

Key Points

  • Git tags may be generated to note a particular version in history.

  • Consider use of git early in scientific workflows, for robust documentation

  • Open scientific work is more useful and more highly cited than closed.