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GitHub and Markdown

Github

  • What is Github? Git is a version control system developed by Linus Torvalds. When developers create something (an app, for example), they make constant changes to the code, releasing new versions up to and after the first official (non-beta) release. GitHub is a gathering place for version control.
  • Why use GitHub?
    • Built on Open Source software (git)
    • Free to use
    • Popular project management tool for computational/ programming work.
    • You can take your work with you!
  • Create an account: We need to create an account on github. This requires choosing a username. What should we consider when creating a user name? Now create an account. Go to github.com and create an account.
  • To copy the materials for this course, go here: https://classroom.github.com/a/tKM08bky . Selece 'Accept this assignment'. This may take awhile depending on how busy the GitHub servers are.
  • All your assignments will be submitted in this new repository: github.com/introdh/intro-dh2018-YOURUSERNAME

What is Markdown?

Markdown is a lightweight standard for writing in plain text while encoding the structure of your document for later representation in a format like Word, PDF, or HTML. If you have ever marked up a text using HTML tags, Markdown works quite similarly, but uses simple typographical symbols to encode text rather than longer HTML tags. There are a number of affordances to working in Markdown, including:

  • Simplicity. Because Markdown is a plain-text system of encoding structural elements typographically—rather than, as in proprietary formats like docx, though hidden, underlying code—Markdown files are small in size and simple to compose. You do not need to interrupt your writing to format your document while writing in Markdown.
  • Flexibility. When writing in Markdown you encode directions for styling your text, but you do not style it directly. Because of this, an md file can be easily converted to many other standard file types, including html or pdf. You can easily convert a single .md file into a range of other formats, giving you flexibility when you wish to publish your writing. When you write Markdown in GitHub, the website will translate the Markdown you wrote into HTML for display online.
  • Durability. Unlike files composed in specific version of proprietary software, Markdown files are, essentially, plain text files. This means they can be opened by a wide range of applications and they will look essentially the same, and that they are not subject to the vicissitudes of software updates or platform dependencies. You can open and edit a Markdown file on virtually any computer, and you will likely be able to do well into the future. Even if the conventions of Markdown are no longer understood, the central text should remain widely compatible and portable.

As with any medium, of course, there are also limitations to writing in Markdown, such as:

  • We have less granular control over the appearance of your text than you would in a full featured word processor. In order to ensure the flexibility and durability of Markdown, its grammar is relatively constrained. While you can indicate text should be bold or formatted in a numbered list using Markdown, for instance, you could indicate that one paragraph’s font should be 2 points larger than another.
  • We typically have to convert Markdown files into another format before publication. This is not quite true on the web, where some frameworks (like Jekyll, in which our class website is built) can understand Markdown directly, but usually the production stage for a Markdown document involves converting you md file into another format and converting its structural encoding into actual stylistic changes.

Working with Markdown

In markdown, please complete the following tasks using the Markdown Cheat Sheet.

  • Go to your repository: github.com/introdh/intro-dh2018-YOURUSERNAME
  • Name your file "lab01_Github_YOURLASTNAME.md".
  • Create a section header called "Info" and below provide your name, hometown and preferred pronouns.
  • Create a section header called "Questions", create a numbered list of questions that are italicized, and answer the following:
    • What are you most nervous about this semester?
    • What you you most excited about this semester?
    • Why did you choose to take this course?
  • Create a section header called "Digital" and answer the following:
    • Describe two pieces of digital content (i.e. film, meme, tweet, etc) you interacted with over the summer and why it was memorable. One should be an image and the other a video. Include an image and YouTube Video of the piece of media.
    • Add a link to the piece of media that is clickable.