Forking Repositories and Cloning to Local Machine (git clone)

Two of the most frequent ways to obtain code on GitHub are cloning and forking. While both involve copying a repository, they serve distinct roles in open-source development and enterprise collaboration.

1. Cloning a Repository: git clone

Cloning downloads an entire existing Git repository from a remote server (like GitHub) to your local computer:

• It downloads all files, directories, commits, and branches.
• It automatically configures the remote alias named origin pointing back to the cloned URL.
• It automatically checks out the default branch (main).

Cloning into a Custom Directory Name:

By default, Git creates a folder named after the repository (react). You can specify a custom directory name as the last argument:

Shallow Cloning (--depth 1):

For massive repositories (like Linux or Chromium) with 15 years of history, downloading every commit can take hours and gigabytes of disk space. A shallow clone downloads only the latest snapshot:

2. Forking a Repository

What if you want to contribute to an open-source project (like vuejs/core or django/django), but you are not an employee and do not have write access to push commits to their repository? This is where Forking comes in!

What is a Fork?

• A Fork is a complete copy of a repository that lives entirely on your personal GitHub account.
• Because it lives under your account, you have full administrative write and push access to it.
• You make your changes, commit them to your fork, and then submit a Pull Request (PR) back to the original author's repository.

How to Fork a Repo:

1. 1
   Navigate to the public repository on GitHub (e.g., github.com/msk-institute/python-cheatsheet).
2. 2
   In the top-right corner of the page, click the Fork button.
3. 3
   Select your personal account and click Create fork.
4. 4
   GitHub duplicates the repository under your username in seconds!

3. Cloning vs. Forking: Quick Summary