My First GitHub Project: From a Local Folder to GitHub Using Git & SSH

Introduction It is important to note that Git and GitHub are not the same thing and have different purposes. Git is a version control system that runs on my PC and helps track changes to files. GitHub on the other hand is an online platform where Git repositories can be stored , shared , and collaborated on . A Git repository is a storage space in a PC that contains project’s files along with the entire history of changes made to them. Therefore, Git as the tool used to manage the history of a project locally (on a PC) , while GitHub provides a remote location where I can store and access that project. This process requires Git the PC is linked to a GitHub account through SSH (Secure Shell) , a cryptographic network protocol that enables secure remote access, command execution, and file transfers over unsecured networks. This article is meant to explain how I created a project in a local folder, turned it into a Git repository , connected it to GitHub , configured SSH authentication, and pushed my work to the remote repository. 1. Starting With The Local Project Check File Location First, I needed to check my current location by running the command pwd . For that I got, /c/Users/ezraw , the folder that I was on currently. A directory is simply a folder. Your working directory is the folder your terminal is currently operating inside. Listing Files and Folders in the current location I ran the command, ls and got results of every folder in my working directory. Moving to Desktop My Desktop was my preferred location for the project on my PC. My Desktop was located in OneDrive therefore I ran cd OneDrive/ . Thereafter, I ran cd Desktop to access my preferred location for the file I want to create. N/B: cd means Change Directory , and it's the command used to move into the folder one wants to access. Verify Location To verify if I was in my preferred folder, My Desktop, I ran pwd and got /c/Users/ezraw/OneDrive/Desktop thus confirming I was in the right location. Creati