Git and GitHub

In this first assignment, the goal is to gain experience with Git. This is also an opportunity to refresh your JavaScript skills from CS 290, as JavaScript will be the primary language for this course. If you’re already familiar with Git and JavaScript, this should be straightforward.

The following steps are designed to help you become comfortable with Git. Your grade will be based on your Git usage, not the final result.

Don’t forget to check the grading rubric and submit your GitHub Classroom repository link in the Canvas assignment.

If you need a refresher on Git, please refer to the lecture notes.

Create a Local Git Repo and Make Some Commits

While most of the time you might start with a remote repository on GitHub, this assignment will begin with a local repository. Your first task is to create a simple Node.js project and use Git to manage its development.

Note

You are welcome to use any Git client, but do not use the GitHub web interface to make commits (via file uploads or edits). The goal is to become comfortable with Git itself.

Here are the steps:

1. On your development machine, create a new project directory (e.g., assignment-1/).

2. Initialize it as a Git repository using git init.

3. In your assignment-1/ directory, run npm init to initialize the project as an NPM package. Follow the prompts and provide reasonable answers (there are no wrong answers).

   Note

   To use npm, ensure Node.js is installed. Download it from the official site or use your package manager. A working, though old, version is available on the ENGR servers. I recommend using the LTS version and install/manage it through nvm.

4. The npm init command creates a package.json file. Add this file to version control and COMMIT it.

5. Create a file named .gitignore in your assignment-1/ directory.

6. Add the following line to ignore the dependency cache created by NPM:

   node_modules/

7. Add the .gitignore file to version control and COMMIT it. This is a special file that tells Git to ignore certain files and directories. We often don’t want to track build artifacts, dependencies, or other files that can be generated from the source code.

8. Create a file named asciiArt.js in your assignment-1/ directory. This file will contain your ASCII art generating program.

9. Ensure your program can capture the string the user wants to convert to ASCII art. Allow the user to pass the string on the command line, like this:

   node asciiArt.js "This is the string to turn into ASCII art"

   In a Node.js program, access command-line arguments via process.argv. Capture the first argument after the program name and print it to the terminal using console.log(). Refer to the Node.js documentation for details on process.argv.

10. Add the initial version of asciiArt.js to version control and COMMIT it.

11. Run the following command in your terminal to install the Figlet library:

    npm install figlet

    After installation, a node_modules/ directory and a package-lock.json file will be created. Also, package.json will be modified.

12. Modify asciiArt.js to use Figlet to generate ASCII art from the user-provided string and print the result. Refer to Figlet’s documentation page.

13. Once your program generates ASCII art successfully, COMMIT the following:

    • Your modifications to asciiArt.js
    • The modifications to package.json made when you installed Figlet
    • The new package-lock.json file

14. Run git log to print your project’s commit history.

15. Take a screenshot of the entire commit history and save it in your assignment-1/ directory.

16. Add the screenshot to version control and make a final COMMIT.

    Note

    If using a Git client other than the command line, take a screenshot of the commit history provided by your client.

Mirror Your Local Repo on GitHub

Your second task is to mirror your Git repo on GitHub. Here are the steps:

1. Find and click the link to GitHub Classroom in the Canvas assignment.

2. This link will direct you to a page where you’ll select your name. This connects your real name with your GitHub username in our GitHub Classroom, helping the TAs and instructor find your code.

3. After selecting your name, you’ll be brought to a page with an “accept this assignment” button. Clicking this generates a private repo for you in the CS 362 GitHub Classroom. After a few seconds, the page will provide a link to that repo on GitHub.

4. Follow the provided link to navigate to your repo. Copy either the HTTPS or SSH URL for the GitHub repo and use it to set up that repo as a remote for your local /assignment-1 directory.

5. Push the commits from your local repo to GitHub.

Unrelated Histories?

GitHub Classroom repos are created with a README file, which automatically creates a new Git history. If you see an error message about unrelated histories when pushing, it means your local repo has no common history with the GitHub repo. That makes sense since both were created separately. To fix this, you need to “force” pull the README file from GitHub into your local repo. Use the following command:

git pull --allow-unrelated-histories origin main

This command allows you to merge the two histories. After that, you can push your local commits to GitHub.

You might need to set tracking information for your local branch first:

git branch --set-upstream-to=origin/<branch> <local_branch>

Once you see all your commits on GitHub, your assignment is submitted. Please do submit your GitHub Classroom link in the Canvas assignment.