Introduction to GIT for Power BI Developers

Agenda

1. GIT 101 - Basics (Individual)
2. GIT 102 - Remotes / GitHub.com
3. GIT 103 - Branches
4. GIT 200 - TEAM / Git Workflows
5. Next Steps / Advanced GIT
6. References

GIT Advantages

• Change tracking: What has changed?
• Version control: Roll back to previous version
• Collaboration, Workflows
• Risk-free experimentation

1. GIT 101 - Basics (Individual)

• git Repository
  • Folder, with all containing files and subfolders
  • All previous versions of those
• Best suited for text-based files (*.txt, *.json, *.xml, *.m, *.dax, *.md, *.svg), works best with short lines
• Repository tracks history - However, changes must be explicitly recorded by user
• Binary files (*.xlsx, *.pbix, *.png, *.zip) can be tracked, but benefits are limited
• When starting from scratch, a git repository needs to be initialized
• Demo
  • Init new repository
  • Stage changes
  • Commit changes
  • Use diff view
  • Show history in git GUI

Quick start

git init
git add .
git commit -m "My commit message"

Git GUI Clients

• Visual Studio Code, SourceTree, GitHub Desktop, GitKraken, TortoiseGit (links under References)

2. GIT 102 - Remotes / GitHub.com

• Publishing a local repository
  • Create new, empty, server-side repository (example: github.com)
  • Add "remote" to the local repo
  • Push to the remote

3. GIT 103 - Branches

• Branches represent working versions of the entire repository
• Only one branch can be active ("checked out") at any time
• Different branches (with different versions of the repo contents) can exist side-by-side

4. GIT 200 - TEAM / Git Workflows

• Branching model: Release branch
  • main always contains latest Production version
  • As new release sprint starts, Release/x.x branch is created off main
  • Issues & features assigned to devs
  • New feature branch created off Release/x.x for each issue being worked on
  • Merge Request (back into Release/x.x) raised by developer and reviewed by development lead
  • Throughout sprint, more and more features are being integrated into Release branch
  • At end of sprint, after successful testing, Release branch is merged into main (= Production deployment)
• Model/Report dependencies to be coordinated between devs
• Ref: https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/devops/repos/git/git-branching-guidance#use-release-branches
• Demo
  • Main repository: https://github.com/pbi-tools/advworks-git-demo
  • Sprint/Release project: https://github.com/pbi-tools/advworks-git-demo/projects/1
  • Assuming three personas
    • Lead: Manages release and approves merge requests; creates Release branch
    • Dev1: Model changes; creates feature branch in main repo
    • Dev2: Report changes; creates features branch in fork

5. Next Steps / Advanced GIT

• Other git concepts/features
  • LFS
  • Rebase
  • Stash
  • Submodules
  • Cherry pick
• CI/CD - Deployment Automation
  • See existing pbi-tools talks on CI/CD below...

6. References

• GIT - General
  • git Official Homepage
  • git Reference
  • GitHub git Cheat Sheet
• Books, Tutorials
  • Pro Git Book (Online)
  • Atlassian Git Tutorials
  • Gitkraken Git Tutorials
• git Clients
  • Visual Studio Code
  • SourceTree
  • GitHub Desktop
  • GitKraken
  • TortoiseGit
• Branching Strategies
  • A successful Git branching model
  • TE3 Onboarding Guide
  • Trunk-based development
  • Azure DevOps - Git branching strategy
  • GitHub Flow
  • pbi-tools Release Branching Model
• pbi-tools
  • https://pbi.tools/
  • pbi-tools Videos/Presentations
  • Sponsor work on pbi-tools!
• Conference/User Group Presentations
  • Abstract: What is git and how do I get started?
  • Recording: PPUG Stuttgart 13-Apr-2022

Key Concepts

Term/Concept	Description	Reference
Repository	A folder in the file system in which all changes are tracked explicitly.	https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/setting-up-a-repository
Staging Changes	Selecting various changes (files modified, added, removed) to be added to the repository history.	https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/saving-changes
Committing Changes	Adding staged changes to the repository history. Contains title/message, timestamp, author.	https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/saving-changes/git-commit
Remote	Connection to a server hosting git repositories centrally (GitHub.com, dev.azure.com, gitlab.com, bitbucket.org, ...)	https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/syncing
Push	Transfer local commits to a remote git server.	https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/syncing/git-push
Clone	Makes a new copy of an existing repsitory in a new directory.	https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/setting-up-a-repository/git-clone
Branch	A particular version of the repository to which further changes can be made.	https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/using-branches
Checkout	Switch the state of a local copy of a respository to another branch, or create a new branch off an existing one.	https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/using-branches/git-checkout
Pull	Transfer remote commits from a git server to the local workspace.	https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/syncing/git-pull
Merge/Pull Request	Request by a developer for changes from there working branch to be integrated into another branch.	https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/making-a-pull-request
Fork	A copy of a hosted repository into another user/org account. Allows making changes on a dedicated branch without direct access and with no impact to the original hosted repository.	https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/comparing-workflows/forking-workflow
Feature Branch	Working branch for a particular feature, owned by one developer.	https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/comparing-workflows/feature-branch-workflow
Release Branch	In a release branch model a dedicated branch into which release features are integrated. Created off main when work on the release starts, and merged back into main when the release is complete.
Tag	A pointer to a historic version of the repository, generally used for release numbers. New changes cannot be added to tags (unlike branches).

© Mathias Thierbach 2022