Extra lab · not tied to a numbered week

VS Code & GitHub

Stop losing your work. That's the whole lab.

Step 1 · make an account

github.com → Sign up username, email, password → verify the email

That's it. No settings to configure yet.

The loop

EDIT → SAVE → STAGE → COMMIT → PUSH

PULL runs the other way: it brings down changes made somewhere else: another machine, a collaborator, an earlier you.

VS Code, labeled

Illustrative recreation of the interface, not a screen capture.

Explorer
index.html
style.css M
trail-mix.html
new-post.html A
index.html · your-project
<h1>Hello</h1>

Left: every file, always. Middle: where you type. M = modified, A = added, both waiting to be staged.

Source Control panel

Illustrative recreation of the interface, not a screen capture.

Source Control
style.css M
new-post.html A
Changes (2)
describe what changed, briefly
✓ Commit⟳ Sync

The branch icon in the left rail opens this. Commit saves your message. Sync pulls, then pushes.

Or the terminal, if you prefer typing

git add . git commit -m "describe what changed, briefly" git push

Same three steps as the panel: stage, commit, push. Neither way is more correct.

The everyday loop

Copilot is a collaborator, not an author

Copilot suggests.
You decide what stays.

Same question as in Lab 2’s AI coding, now inside the editor instead of a chat window.

When it goes wrong

Merge conflict

  • Read both versions. Keep what you want. Commit.

Forgot to pull

  • Pull now. If it complains, commit first, then pull.

Committed something huge

  • Stop. Ask before you force anything.

Practice

Carry this with you

Git doesn't ask if your code is good.
It just remembers what you did.
That part is still yours.

VS Code & GitHub for Creatives
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