GitHub/Git versus Apple iCloud Drive?

Question

Hello,

So I am new to Git and I am slowly grasping its concepts, I have also understood the main differences between GitHub and Git.

However, as a person who has a MacBook Pro to do my programming projects I am having a hard time knowing if I will gain any extra benefits from using Git, because I make use of Apple's iCloud Drive that automatically saves/uploads all documents on my computer to the cloud (or most part) and even if I need to go back to a previous part of the code I can just use the Time Machine feature to return to a previous version.

I would appreciate if someone would explain to me what features would I benefit from using Git or even Github. Collaboration, i guess?

Answer 1

Without Git you can't create branches, would be the main disadvantage.



Say you want to mess with a part of your app, but you aren't sure whether it's going to work out. With Git, you just create a new branch, then start editing files to your hearts content.

If you want to go back to your original version, you simply switch the branch and git takes care of the rest, automatically reverting the files, BUT: the edits from the branch don't get lost, and you can switch back to it at any point.



As for GitHub, that's just a free online platform for creating repositories. It doesn't compare to Git, that would be like comparing a race car to a race track.

I personally use Bitbucket, because they allow you to have private repos even with a free account.

Answer 2

Git is a methodology. Github is a code repository. iCloud won't let you rollback changes you made.



I use Visual Studio Team Services as my ALM tool using Git and Agile.

Answer 3

I use Subversion rather than Git, but the advantages are nearly the same. Both are revision control systems, while "saving to the cloud" is a simple backup. With Git or Subversion (or any of several other choices) you can recall any previously saved revision of a document or file at any time.



It's possible to get nearly that with a backup system (cloud based, or otherwise) but that takes a bit of extra care and planning to implement and manage incremental backups and to reproduce a set of documents for a particular date or revision number.