Would love help with README to walk users through first commit

[LukeSchlangen]

We are trying to make a website (plain html and css) that helps walk users through their first commit with an IDE. I tried simplifying things down, and thanks to Visual Studio Code's ability to clone a repository down from the application, I have gotten pretty far without the user needing to use the command line, but I've hit a point with being able to push where I don't know how to do it without the command line.

My biggest concern is that for a brand new user, the command line is a pretty big and intimidating beast, so I would like to do it without that. Any ideas or suggestions? Feel free to make a PR to the README.md if you have an idea.

I have also provided images up to that point (and am able/willing to produce them after that point) if someone has ideas. The biggest thing about not using the command line (besides the learning curve) is that if I can keep everything in Github and Visual Studio Code, then I don't need to write separate examples for Mac and PC and can still be inclusive.

[techboy14]

alright i will help

[techboy14]

how can i help

[LukeSchlangen]

Would love it if you read through the README, followed the instructions so far, and made any suggestions on what you think might fit in next steps. Especially any ideas on how to finish the rest of the Pull Request process without the use of the command line.

[techboy14]

Alright

[techboy14]

Thanks

[techboy14]

how do you open it in vs code

[LukeSchlangen]

You can clone from vs code with the command template. I'm going offline for the next 10 hours, but I can give more details tomorrow. Thank you so much for your interest!

[techboy14]

okay

[techboy14]

thanks

[redxtech]

Why avoid the command line? If you're developing, you're going to be using it at some point, so why not get aquainted with it?

I can make a pretty good guide for that if needed.

If you're sticking to your wish to make it command line free, I would also recommend a tool kalled gitkraken. That piece of software is amazing for git.

[LukeSchlangen]

@redxtech I love the command line (and gitkraken), I just worry that it might not be straight-forward enough to follow for someone who has never used it before. I was also thinking that keeping things inside of an application would make the guide identical regardless of mac or pc. If you think we can make a pretty good guide for that (for windows and mac) I'm all ears.

[redxtech]

I see your point, however, the command line is the exact same (in terms of git) accross macOS, Windows, and linux. Additionally, not all people use VS Code.

For one, the git on the command line has the least amount of software needed to be installed in order to be fully functional.

Something that would be another idea would be to make a multi part guide, with a section dedicated to each seperate piece of software. (initial page for command line, additional page for gitkraken, extra one for, VS code, for github desktop, for IDEA IDE's, for atom, etc)

That way, people can get the basics of how to use the command line (if their preferred software is unavailable for some reason) and then they can choose the platform based on what fits their workflow the best.

[LukeSchlangen]

I like that a lot. I think for the first run through I want to be very prescriptive on what to do (more on the side of "here is one way to do it" and less "here are seven ways to do it" which can lead to paralysis. The more research I've done, the less it seems possible to do things without the command line. If you want to take a stab at writing the documentation, I'd love to include it @redxtech

[redxtech]

Sure, will do!
How would you like me to do it?
What I'm thinking is making the readme.md file dedicated to the command line, and at the end link to a page where you can select your specific software & environment and have specific instructions to each of those, so it's not in the face of people just looking to get the basics of git, but it's still there for people who want to learn how to integrate it into their specific env. more fluidly. @LukeSchlangen

[LukeSchlangen]

That sounds perfect @redxtech!

[redxtech]

Ok, I'll get started on that :)

[redxtech]

I'm currently in the middle of writing this, but I really like the shadow you have on your images. Once I upload those can you edit these ones to have the same look?

[LukeSchlangen]

Thanks! That is default behavior with full screen screen shots on Mac (CMD+shift+4 then space). I'm not 100% sure how to add them retroactively, but I can definitely try.

[redxtech]

Ah I see. I can get the screenshots on my Mac then.
I'll send the PR once I've finished the command line guide. (Should be tomorrow sometime).
Check my fork (redxtech/software-interview-prep) and let me know if you have any comments as I work on it.

[LukeSchlangen]

This is looking really good @redxtech! Thank you so much!

I do have a few questions:

1. Is there a reason to use git clone git@github.com:redxtech/software-interview-prep.git over https? I think the default for people new to github is https?
2. Some people don't know how to navigate to the command line and people will copy the $ directly into their command line if it's in the description.
3. I've taught the command line in a few of my classes before and vim is a really steep learning curve. This line will require a lot more hand holding. I would prefer to be over-prescriptive and give exact details of how to do this step-by-step rather than give options. I think we can give more options in later guides.

   Any other editor or IDE will work just fine (I personally use WebStorm), I just chose vim because it's powerful and available on most computers. Once we've made all the changes necessary, we need to stage them:

I think this is a really solid foundation, but I think there are a lot of places for a person just learning about the command line and git for the first time to make mistakes here. The target audience for this repo is people who have never used git or the command line before. That said, what you've created is way better than what we have now, so I'll gladly merge when you're ready and we can make gradual improvements over time. After all, that's the whole point of git 😃

[redxtech]

Ah, thanks for the comments. I didn't even think of any of those. This is my first time writing a guide like this, so if you have any more comments please let me know.

I'm going through the entire guide looking for things that I may have overlooked, and fixing those as well.

Also don't worry about a lack of images, those will be added as well.

[LukeSchlangen]

No problem! Thank you for all of the effort you're putting into this!

[redxtech]

Just submitted a PR for the guide. Let me know if there's anything that needs changing.

[LukeSchlangen]

@redxtech It looks good to me! There are some points that I think might be confusing to newer users, but I'm not sure which points will trip them up. I created a new issue to try to get some feedback. Thank you so much for your help @redxtech!

[izulien]

I will certainly go through this in the next day or so and get some interview questions up. I think this project in general is a huge help for those new to GIT or GITHUB.

[LukeSchlangen]

Thanks @izulien! That's what we're hoping for! We can always get better!

[Lysautumn]

I will go through the README and clarify some things that are a bit confusing.

[LukeSchlangen]

Thanks @Lysautumn! I reviewed the changes and with the exception of one small grammatical issue, it looks good!