Guided: Branching and Merging in Git

Table of Contents

1. Challenge

   Introduction

   Introduction

   Welcome to the Guided: Branching and Merging in Git lab 🌿.

   In this Guided Code Lab, you will master the use of branches in Git, crucial for managing features and collaborative development. You'll work within a cloned-repo on a simple Python word-guessing game called PyWords. During the lab, you will create a new branch to develop a feature and then merge your changes back into the main branch.

   Pre-requisites

   • Understanding of Python programming
   • Familiarity with command-line operations and basic Git commands

   Learning Objectives

   • Create and switch between branches in a Git repository.
   • Implement a new feature in a separate branch.
   • Merge the new feature into the main branch without conflicts.

   Click the arrow to move to the next step.

2. Challenge

   Basic Setup and Configuration

   Before you dive into the core activities of this lab, it's essential to ensure that your Git environment is correctly set up. This involves configuring Git with your personal information, which will be used in your commits. Each commit in Git is associated with a name and an email address, and this information is crucial for collaborative work and maintaining a clear history of who did what.

   Setting Up Your Git Identity

   Configure Your Email Address

   First, you'll need to set the email address that will be associated with your Git commits. This should be the same email address that you use for your Git repository service (like GitHub, GitLab, etc.). To set your email address globally in Git, use the following command:

   git config --global user.email "[email protected]"
   

   Replace [email protected] with your actual email address.

   Configure Your Username

   Next, set your name. This name will appear as the author in each commit you make. To set your name globally in Git, use the command:

   git config --global user.name "Your Name"
   

   Replace Your Name with the name you want to appear in your commits.

   Why is this Important?

   • Commit Tracking: Git tracks who makes each commit by using the name and email address. This is crucial in a collaborative environment where multiple people are working on the same project.
   • Accountability and Credit: Your name and email in commits help in attributing the work to you, ensuring you get credit for your contributions.
   • Consistency Across Environments: By setting these configurations globally, your Git identity remains consistent across all the repositories you work on your machine.

   ---

   After completing these steps, you'll be ready to start using Git more effectively, with your identity properly established for all your contributions. This is a fundamental step in setting up a professional and organized coding environment.

   Click the arrow to move to the next step.

3. Challenge

   Hands-On: Working with Git

   Let's start by cloning the remote-repo which is where you will be adding your new code.

   In the Terminal to your right execute:

   git clone remote-repo cloned-repo
   

   This command clones the remote-repo into your working directory and names it cloned-repo.

   Change into your new repo with the following command:

   cd cloned-repo
   

   Check the status of your new repo with:

   git status
   

   You should see the following message:

   On branch master
   Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.
   
   nothing to commit, working tree clean
   

   Click the arrow to move to the next step.

4. Challenge

   Branching in Git

   Branches in Git allow you to diverge from the main development line and work on new features or fixes in isolation.

   Creating a New Branch in cloned-repo

   Inside cloned-repo, create a new branch named feature-hint-system:

   git branch feature-hint-system
   

   Switch to the new branch:

   git checkout feature-hint-system
   

   Confirm you have switched to the new branch:

   git branch
   

   You should see the following:

   cloned-repo $ git branch
   * feature-hint-system
     master
   

   Click the arrow to move to the next step.

5. Challenge

   Implementing a New Feature in cloned-repo

   With your new branch checked out, you will add a feature to PyWords that provides a hint after the third failed attempt.

   Adding the Feature

   Replace the code inside main.py with the following, simulating the coding of a new feature:

   import random
   
   words = ["apple", "bloom", "crane", "dwell", "eagle", "frost", "glade", "haste", "ideal", "jolly", "kneel", "light", "mound", "noble", "ocean", "piano", "quilt", "rally", "scale", "trace", "ultra", "vivid", "whale", "xenon", "yacht", "zesty"]
   
   def get_feedback(secret_word, guess_word):
       feedback = ""
       for i, c in enumerate(guess_word):
           if c == secret_word[i]:
               feedback += c.upper()
           elif c in secret_word:
               feedback += c.lower()
           else:
               feedback += "*"
       return feedback
   
   def provide_hint(secret_word, guesses):
       # Find letters that haven't been guessed correctly
       unguessed = [c for c in secret_word if c not in guesses or secret_word.index(c) != guesses.index(c)]
       if unguessed:
           return f"Hint: One of the letters is '{random.choice(unguessed)}'."
       return "No hints available."
   
   secret_word = random.choice(words)
   guessed_letters = ""
   
   print("Welcome to PyWords!")
   print("Guess the 5-letter word. You have 6 attempts.")
   
   for attempt in range(1, 7):
       guess = input(f"Attempt {attempt}/6: Enter your guess: ").lower()
   
       while len(guess) != 5 or not guess.isalpha():
           print("Invalid input. Please make sure you enter a 5-letter word.")
           guess = input(f"Attempt {attempt}/6: Enter your guess: ").lower()
   
       guessed_letters += guess
   
       if guess == secret_word:
           print(f"Congratulations! You've guessed the word: {secret_word.upper()}")
           break
       else:
           feedback = get_feedback(secret_word, guess)
           print(f"Feedback: {feedback}")
   
           if attempt == 3:
               print(provide_hint(secret_word, guessed_letters))
   
           if attempt == 6:
               print(f"Sorry, you've run out of attempts. The word was: {secret_word.upper()}")
   
   

   Make sure to save the main.py.

   Committing Your Feature

   Inside cloned-repo, stage your changes:

   git add .
   

   Commit your changes with a descriptive message:

   git commit -m "Implement hint feature after third failed attempt"
   

   You should see the following:

   [feature-hint-system 8d2545f] Implement hint feature after the third failed attempt
    1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
   

   Click the arrow to move to the next step.

6. Challenge

   Merging Your Changes in cloned-repo

   Now that your feature is ready, it's time to merge your changes back into the master branch.

   Preparing to Merge

   Inside cloned-repo, switch back to the master branch:

   git checkout master
   

   You should see:

   Switched to branch 'master'
   Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.
   

   Merge the feature-hint-system branch into master:

   git merge feature-hint-system
   

   You should see:

   Updating b834b0a..8d2545f
   Fast-forward
    main.py | 20 +++++++++++++++++---
    1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
   

   Before pushing your changes to a remote repository, it's a good practice to pull the latest changes to avoid conflicts.

   Syncing with Remote

   Inside cloned-repo, pull the latest changes from the remote repository:

   git pull origin master
   

   Since you are already up to date you should see:

    * branch            master     -> FETCH_HEAD
   Already up to date.
   

   Push your merged changes to the remote repository:

   git push origin master
   

   You should see a similar message:

   Enumerating objects: 5, done.
   Counting objects: 100% (5/5), done.
   Delta compression using up to 4 threads
   Compressing objects: 100% (2/2), done.
   Writing objects: 100% (3/3), 595 bytes | 595.00 KiB/s, done.
   Total 3 (delta 1), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 0
   

   📚 Summary and Next Steps

   Congratulations! You've successfully navigated the branching and merging features of Git. You've added a new feature to PyWords and integrated it into the main codebase.

   💡 Next Steps for Practice:

   • Inside cloned-repo, create a new branch for additional features or fixes.
   • Explore merging branches with conflicts and practice resolving them.
   • Familiarize yourself with Git's branching strategies and workflows.

   Keep experimenting with these concepts, and consider contributing to open-source projects to further develop your skills in a real-world environment.