LÖVE

Basically, I don't know how to use GitHub, and I'm not even sure about what I don't know. I thought I could use it as a sort of drop box for a love2d game folder, but apparently I have to jump through some more hoops to add nested folders to a repository. Should I just stick with Drop Box or one-drive for working on love2d folders across multiple machines, or is there some simple GitHub knowledge that will open it up for me?

sanjiv wrote:Basically, I don't know how to use GitHub, and I'm not even sure about what I don't know. I thought I could use it as a sort of drop box for a love2d game folder, but apparently I have to jump through some more hoops to add nested folders to a repository. Should I just stick with Drop Box or one-drive for working on love2d folders across multiple machines, or is there some simple GitHub knowledge that will open it up for me?

If you want to use github, you need to learn Git. I strongly recommend it because versioning your code is very useful, but you should realize that git and github are a VCS and a platform for it and very different from a storage service like Dropbox.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git_(software)
https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=learn%20git

sanjiv wrote:Basically, I don't know how to use GitHub, and I'm not even sure about what I don't know.

I find github very confusing, despite having been an irregular user for years. I used Tortoise for svn some years ago and that was a bit easier to understand imho but like anything I suppose if you use it often you just get used to it. Anyway, I found this guide very useful, maybe you will too:

http://readwrite.com/2013/10/02/github- ... rs-part-2/

(check part one for a total noob introduction).

Good luck!

s-ol wrote: If you want to use github, you need to learn Git. I strongly recommend it because versioning your code is very useful, but you should realize that git and github are a VCS and a platform for it and very different from a storage service like Dropbox.

Totally agree. I've been using SCMs and VCS since the late nineties and a programmer should not work without using them, nowadays.

I fear that sanjiv should start by learning WHY those software commodities are used and the benefits. They are not just a storage and sharing platforms.

All versioning software for code have the benefit of, if you're willing to keep to a certain coding pattern, keeping track of what you modified, and if something is monumentally borked, you can always diff back to a previous "time" when your project still worked. This is oversimplifying things by a great margin, but i'm probably not wrong.

That said, i know i myself can't really get in that needed mindset of "code - commit - repeat" since i suck at compartmentalizing my time.

Bottom line, git(hub)/svn/mercurial/etc... is good if you can develop in certain ways, or - imo this is the more important bit - , want your project to be opensource; makes sharing the codebase easier, for a number of purposes.

Oh, I forgot to mention: this is the best git guide I know personally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ffBJ4sVUb4

git guide of bitbucke(atlassian) is wonderful, simple yet on the spot. Try git website is also beatiful.

Long story short:
Git requires a certain habits to be formed.
I'd recommend *not* to destroy those with projects that are not intended to be open-source.
Find some open-source project you want to contribute to and see whether you'll be comfortable with git .


Some TL;DR
I'm using git for over 3 years now and can confirm that what zorg said is true.
Code-commit-repeat style is something that is good for an open-source project with a bunch of collaborators.
Sometimes even 2 of those will be sufficient to notice the difference.

Working with others may help you to tune to and accommodate yourself to the "one commit-one feature tinkered with".
However, when you work on a project *alone* there's no need to keep to that rule. And your mind will be aware of the fact.

Basically, if you work alone, you don't need any of git features but the ability to go back in time to see your changes.

So the real question is not whether to use git or not, but rather *how to backup your work at important stages of development?*.
A quick synchronization with DropBox-like services would be what you need exactly.
Besides, git may not be as friendly as you may hope it would, if you have left any files not committed on one of the machines.

Imagine a situation where you've noticed a tiny bug in one of the files you have been working with while adding a new feature.
A bug is completely irrelevant to a feature you're working on at the moment, however.
It would be *right* to remember of that bug and release a fix for that bug in a separate commit if there are other contributors.
But do *you* need that in yours (and yours only) project?