Navigating Code In GitHub Repositories
Tags: github, tutorial, beginners, opensource
Published: 2023-09-25 06:00:00

## Contents
- [Introduction](#introduction)
- [Requirements](#requirements)
- [Header](#header)
- [Files](#files)
- [About](#about)
- [Releases](#releases)
- [README](#readme)
- [Conclusion](#conclusion)
- [Share Support](#share-support)

## Introduction
Hey there! I'm Francesco known as Airscript on the web.
Today we're gonna continue our focus on `GitHub Repositories` taking a look to `Code` tab.
Without any further ado, I think we can start.

## Requirements
You don't need any particular requirement to consult `code` section on GitHub.

## Header
Since we're going to do a deep dive on this topic, let's start from the top.
For the purpose of this blog post, I'll be using [Awesome Steam Deck][awesome-steam-deck] as reference.

Open the link and start with me from the left, just below the code tab:
![Header](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/gxodz0vbx3l7skilbrlo.png)

In the case of this repository we have three main aspects:
- `Title`: the actual name of repository;
- `Template`: the base template from where it was generated;
- `Visibility`: in this case as public, means it can be seen by everyone.

Going right, instead, we start to see something specific to GitHub itself:
![Header 2](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/7m1axg1jhbi2qs2s6k4w.png)

Just looking at them in order, from left to right:
- `Sponsor`: on GitHub repositories or users can be funded through GitHub Sponsors and this button serves that purpose;
- `Pin/Unpin`: if you want to showreel you work, you can pin it on your profile page to make it stand thanks to this button;
- `Watch/Unwatch`: when you're interested by a project, you can watch it and get all the updates from it such as releases and more;
- `Fork`: the concept of fork is literally to make a copy of a repository on your profile or organization;
- `Star/Starred`: a star is something that usually makes GitHub users happy and you can refer to it as a bookmark telling that you like it.

## Files
After the header we can move out together inside the hot part of a repository: files.
Inside files we can check the actual code, documentation and more.
The whole project, basically.
![Files](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/2p963f9s0dpm3e1gmo6a.png)

Starting from the top, we see a selector for both `branches` and `tags`, but what are they?
Simply put, branches can be seen like different versions of a project that can be identical or flow in a different pathway just like a tree branch.
Tags have a similar concept but they're literally a photo of a branch on a specific period in time. Yes, just the selfie you made yourself years ago.
Other than this, on the right you see utilities for searching files, creating new ones and also different possibilities to code on your own.

Leaving behind the top part, we can go directly to the files tree.
This tree shows two main things:
- Who made the last changes to the repository's code;
- The files that compose up the repository.

Before moving onto the right portion of this page, I have to make a small focus onto the changes.
When you make a change to repository's code, that change is being called a `commit`.

## About
Moving forward and for forward I mean to the right, we can see the `About` section.
Treat this as a recap section with all the useful information and metrics about a repository:
![About](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/si11nhrez033lyapvhen.png)

Aside all the information that we have already seen in the previous sections, a mention of honor goes to the software license, the various policies and the README of which we'll be talking in a few words.

## Releases
The last section that we'll be covering from the right part is the one for `Releases`.
One thing that I've seen during my travels in the web, is that both technical and non-technical people will, from time to time, reach this section.
![Releases](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/7em14giq8yl3lhcf7070.png)

The reason is simple: it contains the actual software and usually you can download it from there.

## README
The last part that we'll see in this post, is the famous `README`.
![README](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/x2jya3xqaarmho0lfoaa.png)

This section is one of the most useful inside a repository.
It tells you what does the project, how you can use it or how you can even contribute to it.
Look always for this section because it makes things clear about what you're looking to!

## Conclusion
And we reached the end also for this blog post.
We have seen from top to bottom how a repository is organized, how to read and interpret all the fancy words it has in it and so on.

As a side note, a GitHub Repository is fulfilled of things that may be or not be there, so I made sure to treat only visible sections.
My wish is that you would go out there and discover them out by yourself. Now you have the knowledge to look up at repositories, after all!

## Share Support
If you have liked this post, just leave a reaction and a comment in the section below.
To not lose any new post, just remember that you can follow me here on [dev.to][dev-to] and also other platforms that you can find on [airscript.it][airscript-it].
Thank you kindly!

[airscript-it]: https://airscript.it
[github]: https://github.com
[dev-to]: https://dev.to/airscript/
[awesome-steam-deck]: https://github.com/airscripts/awesome-steam-deck