GIT vs GitHub

Git vs GitHub – What is Git and is it the same as Github?

The main difference between Git and GitHub is that Git is a version control system that lets you manage and keep track of your source code history. GitHub is a cloud-based hosting service that lets you manage Git repositories and share code with others.

If you want to learn more about Git and Github, this post is for you.

First, What is Git?

Git is a version control system which runs on your computer and lets you keep track of your code locally.

What is GitHub?

GitHub is a git repository hosting service. Github is owned by Microsoft.

Git keeps track of changes to code by committing those changes into the repository. At any time you can go back to different commits (snapshots) in your code. The idea being that you will have one file that you are working on, but by using Git you can access all changes made to that file since you started tracking it within Git.

Github is a website which allows you to copy your code and also the changes all contained within the git repository to a worldwide platform. Once your code is on Github you can share it with others or collaborate with other developers who can also edit your code. Github has free options which include a few private repositories or you can pay a monthly fee for more features.

Is Git owned by Github?

No, Git and Github are two separate entities. Git was invented by Linus Torvalds the creator of Linux. Git is open source and free to use.

Github was created by Chris Wanstrath, P. J. Hyett, Tom Preston-Werner and Scott Chacon using Ruby on Rails. Github was purchased by Microsoft in 2018 for a cost of $7.8 billion

If you are new to Git, check out my Git Tutorial for Beginners

To get started you can used my Git Commands List

For another comparison check out – Gitlab vs Github which is better?

Do I need Git and GitHub?

It depends on what you are using Git for? If you just want to version control your code locally on your machine then you can just use Git. If you want to collaborate with other developers or need a way to easily share your code others then you will also need to use GitHub.

Is Github made by Git?

Interestingly, no. Git was created by Linux creator Linus Torvalds whereas GitHub is a website or git repository hosting service. It was developed by Chris Wanstrath, P. J. Hyett, Tom Preston-Werner and Scott Chacon using Ruby on Rails. It was recently purchased by Microsoft.

Can Git be used offline?

Yes, Git is a locally installed piece of software and is used to version control code on your local machine. To use Github you need to have a connection to the internet.