So what is Git and what is GitHub? Put simply, Git is a version control system that lets you manage you code in a very convenient and easy way. GitHub is a cloud-based host that lets you store and manage projects that use Git.
Note: All code snippets in this tutorial are assuming you are working from a UNIX based system (Mac/Linux). If you're working from a Windows computer, the concepts will still apply, but the ways that they are implemented may be different.
The first step to get started is to install Git on your computer. If you're on a Mac, Git should come preloaded. To check, type git in your shell and usage information, along with common Git commands, should print. If you get an error or a response like git: command not found, you can install it from the Git documentation site.
Note: If you are a Mac user, you might need XCode's Command Line Package which allows for command line development in OSX. Note: you do not need XCode to get these developer tools. In order to install the package, run xcode-select --install in your terminal. If you get an error, you can troubleshoot and learn more about the package here.
Once you have Git installed on your computer, we can start your journey to becoming a contributor! Let's go to the next section to continue.