Team Up Glossary

Quick definitions for the core terms used in this workshop.

branch: A parallel version of your project. You can work on a branch without affecting the main version. When you’re ready, you merge your branch back in.

main branch: The primary version of the project that everyone shares. All finished work eventually gets merged into main.

checkout: Switching between branches. When you checkout a branch, your files change to match that branch’s version.

fork: Your own copy of someone else’s GitHub repository, living in your account. You can push anything to your fork without needing permission on the original repo.

upstream: The original repository your fork came from. In this workshop, the team repo is the upstream — your pull requests propose changes to it.

push: Sending your local commits to GitHub so your team can see them.

pull: Downloading the latest changes from GitHub to your local copy.

sync fork: Updating your fork with the latest changes from the upstream repo. On GitHub, it’s the Sync fork button on your fork’s page.

pull request (PR): A proposal to merge your changes into another branch or repo — in this workshop, from your fork’s branch into the team repo’s main. It shows what changed and lets teammates review your code before it’s merged.

code review: Reading and commenting on someone else’s code changes before they are merged. Good reviews are constructive and specific.

merge: Combining the changes from one branch into another. When you merge your feature branch into main, your changes become part of the shared project.

merge conflict: When two people changed the same lines of the same file, git can’t automatically combine them. You have to manually decide which changes to keep.

write access: Permission to push to and merge into a repository. You have write access to your own fork, but only the instructor has write access to the team repo — that’s why your work arrives through pull requests.

conflict markers: The <<<<<<<, =======, and >>>>>>> lines that git adds to a file when there’s a merge conflict. They show you both versions so you can decide what to keep.