Git vs GitHub

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

If you want to know if Git and Github are the same or if Git & Github are different, 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?