Github

Hi Desmond,

.gitignore is just a text file that uses regular expressions to exclude from tracking based on matched patterns. You don't have to use it, but there are likely files you may not want to track.

For example, if you have a database or binaries or logfiles, you may wish to ignore the files or directories those files are in. Let's say you wanted to exclude all .txt files. You might add a line to this file with expression of *.txt

You can create a .gitgnore file in your favorite text editor/IDE or simply do the following from command-line:

>echo "*.txt" >> .gitignore

(appends *.txt to .gitignore file if it exists or creates it with this new expression in it)

The git website has some excellent instructions on syntax and creation: https://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore

Hi Desmond - good concerns around git and adopting best practice. I'll admit I'm a bit out of my depth with regards to the Visual Studio IDE.

As far as not sharing do you have some context? I probably would be more concerned with inadvertently excluding something that another collaborator might need for a pull request to create a properly functioning environment.

It sounds like you're on the right path and asking the right questions - if you do settle on a boilerplate list of .gitignore exclusions, make sure you understand what they do and why they're there.

Cheers!

Thanks for the advice. Im about to start a long term project but have not as yet shared any files.