OPS435 Online Lab1

Introduction to git, github.com, and Python

Lab Objectives

• Using the "git clone" command to clone a repository into a new directory
• Set up account on github.com for creating, tracking, and managing a repository
• configure and explore the Python interpreter on matrix.senecacollege.ca

Overview

In this lab, you will create an account on github.com and follow the Github "Hello World guide" to create a new public repository on github to and explore the basic workflow of using github to track and manage revisions of software or other contents. The essential operations provided by Github includes

• creating new repository,
• creating a new branch,
• making changes to files,
• creating a pull request, and
• opening and merging a pull request.

You will then use the git client (git clone) on matrix.senecacollege.ca to access and download the contents of the repository you created on github. Note: if you have your own Linux VM ready, you can also install and use the git client on your VM.

You will also use the git client on matrix.senecacollege.ca to clone the repository on github.com which hosts the Python scripts for lab 1.

Study and execute the Python scripts downloaded from the lab 1 repository

Reference

• Github git Cheat sheet
• Github Hello World Guide

Glossary

• git - a distributed revision control system with rich command set that provides both high-level operations and full access to git's internals.
• github.com - a code hosting platform for version control and collaboration that lets people work together on software projects from anywhere.

Investigation 1 - git and github.com

Task 1: Create a Github.com account

• Start your web browser and go to github.com and use your own email to sign up for a new github account if you don't already have one.
  [Note: Please be aware that Seneca's spam filter block email from github.com by default, if you use your Seneca email to sign up for an account on github.com, you might have to re-configure your email spam filter to allow confirmation email from github.com to reach your inbox.]
• Record your github.com user name on your lab logbook.
• email your github.com user name to your OPS435 professor from your Seneca email account.

Task 2: Create a project and make a pull request on GitHub

Follow the Github "Hello World Guid" here to perform the following activities:

• Create a repository
• Create a branch
• Make and commit changes
• Open a pull request, and
• Merge your pull request

Please make the following changes when following the guide:

• name the new repository using your Seneca user name instead of "hello-world".
• add your full name, and OPS435 section to the README file, do not post any other personal information there.

Task 3: Clone a Github.com repository into a new directory on a Linux system

You can do the following steps either on matrix.senecacollege.ca or on your CentOS 7 vm:

• login to matrix.senecacollege.ca or your CentOS 7 vm
• create a directory named ops435/lab1 under your home directory
• change your working directory to ~/ops435/lab1
• run the following git command to clone the repository you created in Task 2 on github.com

   git clone https://github.com/[your_github_user_name]/[your_seneca_user_name]

for example, if your github user name is rc2030, and your seneca user name is rchan, the git command to clone the repository you created in Task 2 should be:

   git clone https://github.com/rc2030/rchan

• change your working directory to your cloned git repository, which should be ~/ops435/lab1/[your_seneca_user_name]
• run the following two commands and capture their output to the named files:

   git log > gitlog.txt

   tree -a > repo_tree.txt

• Make sure that gitlog.txt and repo_tree.txt are not empty. Review and study the contents of gitlog.txt and repo_tree.txt

Investigation 2 - Python on Matrix

The Python Interpreter supports two mode of operations: script mode and interactive mode. In interactive mode, the Python interpreter allows us to run python code one statement at a time. Currently, there are two major versions of the Python interpreter available on matrix.senecacollege.ca: version 2 and version3. To start an interactive Python version 2 shell, type "python" at the command prompt. To start an interactive Python version 3 shell, type "python3" at the command prompt.

Task 1 - Setting up Python environment on Matrix for labs and assignments

Part I - Python Versions on Matrix

Login to matrix.senecacollege.ca from a CentOS 7 machine

• Login to matrix.senecacollege.ca with your Seneca user name.
• Login from CentOS Linux (host or vm) with your Seneca user name:
  

Login to matrix.senecacollege.ca from a Windows 10 machine

• Login to matrix.senecacollege.ca with your Seneca user name from Windows 10's run box.

Explore Python versions on Matrix

• Once you are on matrix.senecacollege.ca, run the "python" command to start a Python version 2 interactive shell at the command prompt. The last line displayed should be ">>>". ">>>" is referred to as the Python interactive shell prompt.
  • python
  • at the ">>>" prompt, type help('keywords') and record the output
  • type exit() at the ">>>" prompt to exit from the Python interactive shell.
• Run the "python3" command to start a Python version 3 interactive shell session at the command prompt.
  • python3
  • at the ">>>" prompt, type help('keywords') and record the output
  • type exit() at the ">>>" prompt to exit from the Python interactive shell.

• Compare the list of keywords for Python version 2 and version 3. Which keyword(s) is/are remove from version 2 in version 3?

Task 2 - Testing your setup

• Download Checking script from github.com
• Exploring the sample script
• Running the sample script

Task 3 - exploring Python's built-in functions

• print() function

Task 4 - exploring Python's built-in data objects

• integer object
• string object

Task 5 - exploring on how to get Python to do maths

• Math operators

LAB 1 SIGN-OFF Upload the following files individually to Blackboard

• gitlog.txt: contains the output of the command "git log" from Task 3
• repo_tree.txt: contains the output of the command "tree -a" from Task 3
• lab1_check.txt: contains the output of the command "python3 ./checkLab1.py -f -v"

Lab Review

1. What is a git repository?
2. What kinds of data can be stored in a git repository?
3. What is a git branch?
4. What is the name of the definitive branch in a git repository?
5. What is a "pull request" related to a branch in a git repository?