Configuring VS Code for your GitHub account

Using Git on your local machine or in Github is more or less a necessity for software developers as it helps in collaborating & maintaining the code. VS Code or Visual Studio Code is a go to IDE Software used for it these days amongst all Programmers. So this tutorial should help the beginners to get started with this technology to work over the internet for them to develop computer programs by collaborating with other fellow programmers using Github as a cloud platform.

Configuring Visual Studio Code (VS Code) for your GitHub account, follow these steps:

1. Install Git: Ensure Git is installed on your system. You can download it from git-scm.com.

2. Install VS Code: If you haven't already, download and install VS Code from code.visualstudio.com.

3. Install the GitHub Extension:

   • Open VS Code.
   • Go to the Extensions view by clicking on the Extensions icon in the Activity Bar on the side of the window.
   • Search for "GitHub Pull Requests and Issues" and install it.

4. Sign in to GitHub:

   • After installing the extension, you'll see a prompt to sign in to GitHub.
   • Follow the instructions to authenticate with GitHub in your browser. If you're not redirected back to VS Code, you can manually paste the authorization token provided by GitHub.

5. Clone a Repository:

   • Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS).
   • Type Git: Clone and select it.
   • Enter the URL of the GitHub repository you want to clone.
   • Choose a local folder where the repository will be cloned.

6. Set Up Git Configuration:

   • Open the terminal in VS Code (Ctrl+`` or Cmd+`` on macOS).
   • Set your Git username and email:

     git config --global user.name "Your Name"
     git config --global user.email "your-email@example.com"
     

7. Push Changes to GitHub:

   • Make changes to your code and save them.
   • Use the Source Control view in VS Code to stage, commit, and push your changes to GitHub.

To push changes to your GitHub repository using VS Code, here's how you can do it:

1. Stage Your Changes:

   • In VS Code, open the Source Control view by clicking on the Git icon in the Activity Bar.
   • You'll see a list of modified files. Click the "+" icon next to each file to stage them. Alternatively, click "Stage All" to stage all changes.

2. Commit Your Changes:

   • After staging the files, enter a commit message in the text box at the top of the Source Control view.
   • Click the checkmark icon (✔️) to commit your changes.

3. Push to GitHub:

   • Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS).
   • Type Git: Push and select it, or use the Source Control view to click the "Push" button.
   • If prompted, enter your GitHub credentials or ensure you’re authenticated through the GitHub extension.

Your changes should now be pushed to the remote repository on GitHub.

Official VS Code documentation could be used for further reference/assistance!