Managing source code with GitHub

Git is a commonly used source code management system. GitHub is a company, website, and desktop application that makes it easier to manage Git.

Visual Studio 2015 has built-in support for using Git with GitHub as well as Microsoft's own source code management system, named Visual Studio Team Services.

I used GitHub to store solutions to all the practical exercises at the end of each chapter.

Using the Team Explorer window

In Visual Studio, navigate to View | Team Explorer menu to see the Team Explorer window:

Although it is a good idea to sign up with an online source code management system provider, you can clone a GitHub repository without signing up for an account.

Cloning a GitHub repository

In the Team Explorer window, expand Local Git Repositories, click on the Clone menu, and then enter the following URL of a Git repository to clone it:

https://github.com/markjprice/cs6dotnetcore.git

Enter a path for the cloned Git repository:

C:\Code\Repos\cs6dotnetcore

Click on the Clone button:

Wait for the Git repository to clone locally:

You will now have a local copy of the complete solutions to all the hands-on practice exercises for this book.

Managing a GitHub repository

Double-click on the cs6dotnetcore repo to open a detail view.

You can click on the options in the Project section to view Pull Requests and Issues, and other aspects of a repository.

You can double-click on an entry in the Solutions section to open it in the Solution Explorer: