August 2015 Summaries

On September 3, 2015, a Patchwork hack night will take place at dots in Tokyo, Japan, co-hosted by GitHub and featuring GitHub employees and local community mentors who will assist attendees in learning Git and GitHub. The event aims to provide a casual, hands-on workshop experience where beginners can complete the Hello World tutorial, create their first open source project, and achieve their first merged Pull Request without any prior coding experience. Participants will enjoy a supportive, informal environment with opportunities for mentorship and networking, while mentors can share their expertise with newcomers. The venue is wheelchair-accessible, and refreshments will be provided, with accommodations made for any dietary restrictions disclosed during registration.

GitHub Universe is a two-day event held on October 1st and 2nd at Pier 70 in San Francisco, designed to unite the GitHub community through sessions focused on building, collaborating, and deploying software. The event features keynotes, including one from GitHub Co-founder and CEO Chris Wanstrath, as well as sessions led by industry leaders, GitHub engineers, and organizations like NASA and Mozilla, offering insights into technical deep-dives, best practices, and case studies. Tickets are initially priced at $399, with a price increase slated for September 1st, and there's an opportunity to purchase scholarship tickets for individuals from underrepresented communities. Attendees from out of town are encouraged to book discounted rooms at the W San Francisco before the offer ends on September 11th. GitHub Universe is described as both a festival and a conference, emphasizing the community aspect of software development beyond just coding.

Patchwork Prague is hosting a hack night on August 29 at NODE5 in Prague, aimed at beginners wanting to learn Git and GitHub, coinciding with the Write the Docs EU event. Co-hosted by GitHub employees and local mentors, the event offers an informal, self-directed workshop environment where participants can learn at their own pace with support available as needed. Attendees will gain practical experience by completing a "Hello World" tutorial, creating their first open source project, and achieving their first merged Pull Request, all while enjoying a relaxed atmosphere with snacks provided. The event is accessible to all, including those with dietary restrictions and wheelchair users, and requires participants to have a GitHub account prior to attending.

GitHub Desktop's comparison graph is a sophisticated user interface component central to managing branch interactions and visualizing changes against a base branch. It was developed as a reusable web component within an Electron app, allowing it to be integrated across OS X and Windows platforms by using WebView and CefSharp respectively. This cross-platform approach utilizes shared code for ease of development, while specific implementations differ due to platform-specific APIs. The graph's API is designed to be narrow and focused, facilitating its maintenance and integration. The shared architecture enables iterative development, allowing GitHub for Mac and Windows to converge into GitHub Desktop without a complete rewrite, thus enabling continuous updates and improvements. The project emphasizes maintaining platform-specific user experiences with CSS shims, ensuring a tailored look and feel while benefiting from shared development efforts.

Since GitHub's launch in 2008, the ranking of programming languages on the platform has shifted, reflecting changes in their relative popularity as detected by Linguist in both public and private repositories, excluding forks. Ruby initially gained prominence due to Ruby on Rails' presence on GitHub from the beginning. However, between 2008 and 2015, Java saw significant growth, rising from 7th to 2nd place, likely influenced by the increasing popularity of Android and the demand for version control platforms in the business and enterprise sectors.

GitHub Desktop, now available for OS X and Windows, offers a streamlined and unified experience for both new and seasoned GitHub users by simplifying essential steps in the GitHub workflow. This application replaces GitHub for Mac and Windows, providing a consistent interface across platforms. Users can easily manage branches, which are crucial for proposing changes and reviewing code, directly within the repository view. The tool allows for precise commits by enabling users to select specific files or lines from a diff, and facilitates collaboration by allowing changes to be committed or pull requests to be opened without leaving the app. Additionally, the app supports browsing commits on local and remote branches to identify changes needing merging, and it allows for code to be merged to the master branch for deployment directly from the application. Existing users of GitHub for Mac or Windows will receive an automatic upgrade to this new version.

The Surftocat tank top, now available in the GitHub Shop, offers sleeveless comfort suitable for enjoying outdoor activities or working on projects, as highlighted by Brandi Firestine.

Patchwork Boulder is an upcoming hack night event on Tuesday, August 18, designed for beginners to learn Git and GitHub through a hands-on, self-directed workshop hosted at GitHub's Boulder, CO office. The informal event will feature GitHub staff and local community mentors to assist participants in completing the Hello World tutorial, creating their first open source project, and achieving their first merged Pull Request, with no prior coding experience required. Attendees will enjoy a casual atmosphere with opportunities for networking, hacking, and snacking, and will leave with newfound confidence to engage with the open source community. Mentors are encouraged to join and share their expertise with newcomers. The event requires an RSVP and a pre-existing GitHub account, and offers food and refreshments, with accommodations for those with food allergies and accessibility needs.

GitHub Enterprise 2.3 introduces enhanced features and tools providing users and administrators with improved control and flexibility over their workflows and instances. The release includes new administrator APIs, allowing for more efficient account setup and management, as well as a hi-fidelity migration tool, ghe-migrator, which simplifies the process of transferring repositories and associated data between GitHub instances. Administrators benefit from advanced monitoring capabilities, offering insights into queue states and extensive metrics for MySQL, Redis, and ElasticSearch, enabling proactive issue management. Development processes are streamlined with the ability to filter pull requests by commit status, particularly useful when integrated with The Status API or similar services. Additional updates include outbound HTTP proxies, improved RSA key validations, and read-only deploy keys, enhancing security and functionality. Users can access the full list of updates in the release notes and trial the new version with a 45-day free trial.