This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Bhaskar Sharma
Hello dev.to community! đź‘‹
Yesterday we explored Linux as the foundation. Today we’re layering the next essential skill: Git & GitHub — the backbone of collaboration, CI/CD, and reliable releases.
🔹 Why Git matters for DevOps
Traceability: every change is tracked with author, time, and reason.
Safe collaboration: branches, pull requests, and reviews prevent “it works on my machine” disasters.
Automation-ready: GitHub is often the source of truth that triggers CI/CD, security scans, and deployments.
🧠Core concepts (quick glossary)
Repo: the project database of your code history.
Commit: a snapshot + message of what changed and why.
Branch: an isolated line of work (e.g., feature/login).
PR (Pull Request): propose, review, and merge changes.
Tag/Release: freeze a version (e.g., v1.2.0) for deploys.
🛠️ Commands I’m mastering (cheat-sheet)
set identity (do once)
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"
start & inspect
git init
git clone
git status
git log --oneline --graph --decorate
stage & commit
git add .
git commit -m "feat: add healthcheck endpoint"
branching
git branch -M main
git switch -c feature/healthcheck # or: git checkout -b feature/healthcheck
git merge main
undo safely
git restore # discard unstaged changes
git revert # make a new commit that undoes another
share
git remote add origin
git push -u origin main
git push -u origin feature/healthcheck
**
🌿 Branching that suits DevOps
Trunk-Based Development (recommended for most teams):
Short-lived branches → small PRs → merge to main multiple times a day.
Release tags: v1.0.0, v1.0.1 for deploys and rollbacks.
Protection rules: require PR reviews, statuses (tests) to pass before merging.
🤝 GitHub features you’ll use daily
Pull Requests: code review, inline comments, required approvals.
CODEOWNERS: auto-request the right reviewers.
Branch protection: block force-pushes & direct commits to main.
Issues & Projects: track work; link commits/PRs to issues.
Actions (CI): run tests, linters, builds on each push/PR.
🧪 Hands-on mini-labs (do these!)
Start a repo: README.md, .gitignore, LICENSE → initial commit → push.
Feature flow: create feature/* branch → change code → open PR → request review → squash merge.
Conflict drill: create a conflict on purpose and resolve it via PR.
Tag & Release:
git tag -a v0.1.0 -m "first cut"
git push origin v0.1.0
Create a GitHub “Release” from the tag.
Protect main: require 1 review + status checks before merge.
⚙️ Bonus: a tiny GitHub Actions pipeline (runs tests on PRs)
Create .github/workflows/ci.yml:
name: ci
on:
pull_request:
branches: [main]
push:
branches: [main]
jobs:
test:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version: '20'
- run: npm ci
- run: npm test
Swap Node for Python/Go/etc. as needed. This single file gives you instant feedback on every PR.
🧠Good habits from day one
Write meaningful commit messages (use prefixes like feat:, fix:, docs:).
Keep PRs small & focused (easier reviews, faster merges).
Never commit secrets — use .gitignore and secret managers.
Tag releases that are deployed; link PRs to issues for traceability.
🎯 Key takeaway
Before Docker, K8s, or fancy pipelines — get comfortable with Git & GitHub. Clean history + protected main + automated checks = fewer outages and faster delivery.
🔜 Tomorrow (Day 4)
I’ll cover Bash scripting for DevOps — turning repetitive terminal steps into reliable automation.
DevOps #Git #GitHub #VersionControl #SourceControl #CICD #Automation #Collaboration #SoftwareEngineering #CloudNative #ContinuousIntegration #ContinuousDelivery #OpenSource #DevOpsEngineer #CodingBestPractices #DeveloperTools #SRE
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Bhaskar Sharma
Bhaskar Sharma | Sciencx (2025-09-03T03:39:42+00:00) 🚀 Day 3 of My DevOps Journey: Git & GitHub for DevOps (From Zero to Daily Workflow). Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/09/03/%f0%9f%9a%80-day-3-of-my-devops-journey-git-github-for-devops-from-zero-to-daily-workflow/
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