Teach you how to read the code on GitHub in simple terms

GitHub is the world's largest open source code hosting platform. On it, you can find many excellent open source projects, download and modify the code to become your own project. However, the large amount of excellent code on GitHub may also make you confused and don't know where to start. This article will guide you through how to read code on GitHub in simple terms.

1. Understand the basic concepts of GitHub

Before starting to learn GitHub, you need to clarify some basic concepts:

1. Repository (Repository): refers to storing code The place can be understood as a code base, which is the most basic organizational unit on GitHub.
2. Branch: A code base may have many branches. Each branch can be understood as a version of the code base, with different characteristics and uses.
3. Commit: refers to a code modification. Each submission has a unique code version number.
4. Pull Request: When you make changes to other people's code or a branch and want the original author to know your changes, and may want to merge your changes into the original code base , you need to send a merge request.

2. Start with README.md

Every GitHub code repository will have a README.md file located in the main directory of the project. This file is the "front page" for the project, telling you its purpose and how to use it.

README.md files are usually written in markdown format, which is a lightweight markup language.

In the README.md file, you can read the detailed information of the code warehouse, including the following aspects:

1. Introduction: Briefly introduce the function, role and significance of the project.
2. Installation and use: Detailed introduction on how to download and use the project.
3. Contribute: Tells how you can contribute to the project.

3. View the code

After that, we come to the core part-view the code. When looking at code, different files serve different purposes. Let’s take a look at each one.

1. Source code: This folder is the core of the entire code warehouse, which stores various code files that implement project functions.
2. Dependencies: The source code of some dependent libraries and third-party libraries will be saved in this folder for easy use and management.
3. Configuration files: Storage of project configuration files, including initial settings to final compilation, debugging, etc.
4. Support files: Some auxiliary files, such as pictures and templates.

4. Read and understand the code

After you learn how to browse and locate the code on GitHub, you can start reading and understanding the code.

1. Understand the code logic: Open source projects have a large amount of code, and there are many types of code. Therefore, when reading the code, you may wish to first understand the overall structure and behavioral logic of the code, and split the code Divide it into several small modules for learning.
2. Find key functions: Most codes are composed of functions or modules, so you need to find the most important functions or modules in the code.
3. Understanding comments: Many excellent source codes will provide detailed explanations and documentation of the code, which can help you better understand the logic and implementation of the code.
4. Trace variables: When reading code, you should trace the values ​​of some parameters and variables to better understand the algorithm and the behavior of the program.

5. Participate in open source projects

After you successfully read, understand and modify the code of the GitHub open source project, some creative ideas may emerge in your mind. This is where you can consider contributing to the project and submitting a pull request. How to contribute code to the open source community involves a variety of knowledge and skills, including Git version control, code quality, etc. Therefore, when contributing code, you must take it seriously to avoid making mistakes.

This article explains how to read GitHub source code and how to contribute to it. For those who want to learn how to read and contribute to GitHub open source projects, here's a brief primer. If you want to become an excellent programmer, you must study diligently, constantly improve your skills and understanding, and contribute to the open source community.

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