Using GitHub to Manage Your Projects

What is Agile in Project Management? 

The goal of agile project management is to deliver value to the customer as quickly as possible while still respecting the constraints of time, cost, and resources. This is typically achieved through systematic, rapid-fire planning and review cycles known as "sprints." 

Agile Project management for GitHub is not only easy to adopt, but it's also a perfect match.

With GitHub, you can create and track issues, manage project boards, and use features like pull requests and code reviews to collaborate with your team. You can also use integrations with tools like JIRA, Trello, and Jenkins to streamline your workflow and bring all of your project management tools together in one place.

Project Management in GitHub

GitHub is a web-based platform that provides version control and project management tools for software development teams. With GitHub, you can:

• Collaborate with your team using pull requests and code reviews.
• Track and manage issues, including bug reports and feature requests.

GitHub Project Management Features

GitHub provides a range of features that can help teams with project management:

• Pull requests: Collaborate with your team using pull requests. Use code review to discuss changes and get feedback before merging code into the main branch of your project.
• Wikis and project pages: Use wikis and project pages to document your project and share information with your team and stakeholders.
• Integrations: GitHub integrates with a range of other tools, such as JIRA, Trello, and Jenkins, which can help you to streamline your workflow and bring all of your project management tools together in one place. 

Why Use GitHub for Project Management?

GitHub is quickly becoming one of the most popular platforms for project management. It offers a variety of features that make it an ideal choice for managing complex projects. 

Project Management Integrations for GitHub

One of the great things about GitHub is its wide range of integrations with other project management tools. This makes it easy to get up and run with a project quickly. By connecting to popular services like Trello, Asana, and JIRA, users can easily manage tasks, communicate with teammates, and keep track of progress. 

Who's Using GitHub for Project Management?

Various organizations and individuals use GitHub for project management. Some examples of companies and organizations that use GitHub for project management include:

• Microsoft: Microsoft uses GitHub to host and manage the development of many of its open-source projects.
• NASA: NASA uses GitHub to collaborate on projects with external developers and to manage its open-source codebase.

How to Get Started With GitHub Project Management?

Getting started with GitHub project management is easy. The first step is to create a repository, which will serve as the foundation for the project. Then, depending on your tools, you can connect to them through the repository settings. 

Break Down Significant Issues Into More Minor Issues

Important issues can be daunting when confronted as a single entity. It is easier to break them down into smaller, more manageable pieces. This is true when discussing more significant concepts and attempting to solve complex tasks. 

Communicate

• Make use of the description and README: The description and README for your repository can provide valuable context and information about your project. Use these fields to give an overview of your project and any important details that your team or stakeholders need to know.
• Use views: GitHub provides several views that can help you better understand and manage your work. Use views such as the calendar view and the graph view to get a broader perspective on your project.
• Have a single source of truth: Use GitHub as a single source of truth for your project. This will help ensure that everyone on the team is working from the same information set and will reduce the risk of confusion or miscommunication.
• Use automation: Automation can help to streamline your workflow and save time for more critical tasks. Consider using tools like GitHub Actions to automate repetitive tasks and processes.
• Use different field types: GitHub provides a range of field types that you can use to track different kinds of information about your project. Make use of these field types to capture as much relevant information as possible.
• Most project management tools fail developers: because they are inflexible and need to adapt better to the team's needs. It's essential to choose a device tailored to your team's needs that can grow and change with your team over time.
• Focus on product, not process: While the process is necessary, it's more important to focus on delivering value to your customers. Use GitHub to track and manage the work that needs to be done, but avoid getting bogged down in unnecessary processes or bureaucracy.
• Project Overview: Use the project overview to get a high-level view of your project and see how it fits into the bigger picture.
• Setting up: Use GitHub's setup guides to get your project up and running quickly.
• Project Boards: Use project boards to track the progress of your work and prioritize tasks. You can create multiple boards for different project parts and use labels and milestones to track progress.

Milestones

Milestones track progress towards a specific goal or deliverable. You can use milestones to group issues, pull requests together, and track progress toward completing those issues and pull requests.

Issues

• Task Issue: A task issue is a specific work that needs to be done. Task issues can be used to break down more significant issues into smaller, more manageable pieces of work.
• Epic Issue: An epic issue is a high-level issue representing a large piece of work comprising several smaller tasks. Epics can be used to group related tasks and to track progress toward completing larger pieces of work.
• Bug Report: A bug report tracks and manages issues or defects in the code. 

GitHub Templates

Branching out: Branching out is a common practice in version control systems like Git, which GitHub uses. When you create a new branch, you create a copy of your codebase at a specific time. 

Templates

• Task Issue Template: A task issue template is a predefined document that can create new task issues. Task issue templates often include fields for information such as the task's description, acceptance criteria, and any additional context or details needed to complete the task.
• Epic Issue Template: An epic issue template is a predefined document that can create new epic issues. 
• Bug Report Template: A bug report template is a predefined document that can be used to create new bug reports. Bug report templates often include fields for information such as steps to reproduce the problem, the expected behavior, and any additional context.
• Pull Request Template: A pull request template is a predefined document that can be used to create new pull requests. 
• Committing: Committing is the process of saving changes to a repository in Git. When you commit changes, you create a new snapshot of your codebase that includes all your changes. 

Using the GitHub Issue Tracker

A project's issue tracker allows you to provide feedback and receive feedback from others. A new issue is created for every change you make and the file you upload. You can follow the progress of your changes by viewing the issue tracker and waiting for feedback from the community.

The steps for creating an issue can be similar to the steps above. You will need to use an account with GitHub to do this. If you want to use a work email address, you can get your employer's permission to use it. In addition to a GitHub account, you will also need to create a GitHub account. You can learn more about GitHub accounts here.

Reviewing a Pull Request

After creating a pull request, you can check it to make sure everything is working correctly. However, your contributions are still being reviewed. The reviewer's name, email address, and password are also visible. In addition to watching for issues, they will also want to see if you have followed the guideline for writing clear and concise comments.

The best way to provide a reasonable comment is to follow the guideline for writing good code comments on GitHub. 

Making Your First Pull Request

If you're at the point where you are ready to create your first pull request, let's go over the steps. To do so, first, click on the "Repository" button on the right. You will be taken to the project's dashboard. The first step is to click on "View" in the left navigation. From there, select the "Repository" menu item and click on "Pull Request."

The page will display a project with two pull requests, each one awaiting review. Click on the "Summary" button on the left. You will be prompted for the name of the contribution. You will then need to summarize the code change you want to make. This summary can include the file's name, a description of the changes, and an explanation for the proposed code changes. It is also recommended that you provide an example of what the code should look like. Remember, the reviewer's name, email address, and password are still visible in the left navigation on the project page.

Once the contributor has provided the description and the summary, you will need to provide any additional comments that you would like the reviewer to review. Remember, you should only write words that will be helpful to the reviewer. Once the contributor has provided a sufficient description, you can click on the "Update Review" button at the bottom of the page.

The reviewer will then review your proposal. Once they are done, you can check the review results and accept the pull request. Note that the reviewer will not have any ownership over the contribution you just made. Instead, they will review the contribution to ensure it aligns with the code review guideline and any additional comments you provided. They will then send a message to the contributor to let them know that the review is complete and waiting for a response.

A Review

After you have reviewed your contribution, the reviewer will send you an email to let you know if they approved the pull request or rejected it. If you have followed the rules, you will receive an email from the reviewer, who can add additional comments to your pull request.

If you do not receive a response from the reviewer within two business days of the review, the pull request will be automatically rejected. If the study does not meet the reviewer's expectations, the project team can still leave the contribution on the pull request. It is recommended that you do not attempt to modify the code or add new code until you have had a chance to review the review from the project team.

Pull Request

In GitHub, a pull request is a way to propose and collaborate on changes to a repository. When you create a pull request, you suggest that your changes be merged into the repository's main branch. Other users can review your changes, discuss them with you, and approve or reject the request.

Merging Branches

Merging branches is the process of integrating changes from one branch into another branch. In Git, when you merge one branch into another, you combine the changes from the two branches and create a new commit that includes all of those changes. In GitHub, you can use the "Merge pull request" button to merge a pull request into the main branch of a repository.

Pull Request Guidelines

There are some essential guidelines to keep in mind when reviewing pull requests. These guidelines are intended to make the process of contributing to a GitHub project more pleasant and to make sure your code is reviewed in a way that works well. You can find the complete list of pull request guidelines here. However, you will notice that there are several related sections. These sections cover pull request formatting and code style, how to address pull request conflicts, and how to respond to reviews.

Pull Request Formatting and Code Style

If you want your pull request to look professional, you will need to format your code appropriately. You should follow several guidelines to do this. The most important is the guideline for indentation.

Eight spaces should indent each line of code. If a line of code is more than 16 characters, you will need to indent the code multiple times. For example, the following code is already indented but is over 16 characters long.

The most important part of formatting your pull request is the Equality Case when Nodes are referenced.

You can style your pull request in some ways. It is important to remember that you should always use the equality case when referring to nodes. To use case-insensitive styles for Node identifiers, you will need to include the "[case]" modifier on the first line of the first attribute of the Node:

One common mistake is to use the equality case for Node identifiers. There is no point in having your entire pull request with your node identifiers case-insensitive. There will be bugs in the pull request, which will require merging back to the main branch. The more lines of code you have in a pull request, the more likely one of those lines will cause a merge conflict.

Code Style and Manipulation

The code style you will need to follow while submitting pull requests is different from that you need to follow while writing your pull request. The Pull Request Style Guide provides an example of a pull request style expected to be used by many projects. However, you will need to take special care when modifying the pull request you submit to GitHub. There are four things to be mindful of while changing your pull request, and you must follow each of them to ensure that your code is checked and is consistent:

1. Avoid repetition.
2. Use capitalized names for named parameters and return values.
3. Use the same name for a variable and a function, regardless of how many times they are used in the body of a block of code. This consistency will make it easier for your review to locate the code and review it thoroughly. You should use capitalized names for named parameters and return values.
4. Use a consistent naming convention. Don't use words like lambda, function, and module anywhere in your code unless your code is written in Python. It is better to use language-specific terms, such as the Python keyword for a function, rather than your school-of-choice.

Creating a GitHub Account

You will need a GitHub account to use GitHub to create pull requests. You can find information on how to create a GitHub account at http://developer.github.com/faq. You will also need an account to generate pull requests. You can create an account by clicking on the "Sign Up for Free" button at http://create.github.com/.

Enroll in DevOps Engineer Masters Program and learn to work on tools like Docker, Git, Jenkins, Puppet & Nagios.

Summary 

GitHub issues provide the first and most crucial step toward getting code into production. By using GitHub issues, you will improve your business processes and simultaneously make it easier to become better at programming. It is always a good idea to apply any tips you have learned about GitHub issues when writing your pull requests.

Simplilearn offers a Git Training Course as standalone training. Git training is also included in Simplilearn’s comprehensive DevOps programs, such as the Post Graduate Program in DevOps in collaboration with Caltech CTME.