Welcome back to our beginner’s journey into React development! If you followed along with Part 1, you should now have a functional React Router application. In this installment, we’ll guide you through the crucial steps of integrating your local project with GitHub for robust version control and preparing your development environment by downloading VS Code.

Establishing Your GitHub Repository

Version control is paramount in modern software development, and GitHub provides an excellent platform for this. Here’s how to get your React app onto GitHub:

1. Sign Up for GitHub: If you haven’t already, head over to GitHub and create an account. The process is intuitive and straightforward.
2. Create a New Repository: Once logged in, navigate to create a new repository. You’ll be prompted for a repository name; it’s often easiest to use the same name as your local project folder. For the initial setup, you can leave most default settings as they are. Crucially, do not select any options to initialize the repository with files like a README or .gitignore, as you’ll be pushing your existing local files.

Authenticating Git with GitHub for a Smooth Push

A common hurdle for many beginners is authenticating their local Git installation with GitHub. While git itself is a powerful command-line tool, connecting it securely to your GitHub account can sometimes require an extra step beyond just git push.

Our recommended solution involves the GitHub CLI (Command Line Interface), known as gh. This separate binary simplifies interaction with GitHub directly from your terminal.

How to Install and Authenticate gh:

• Option 1: Direct Download: You can download the gh binary directly from GitHub’s releases page. Once downloaded, navigate to the directory where you saved it in your terminal and run:
  shell
./gh auth login
  The ./ prefix ensures you’re executing the binary from your current directory. Follow the on-screen prompts to authenticate your GitHub account.
• Option 2: Using Homebrew (macOS/Linux): If you’re on a macOS or Linux system and have Homebrew installed (a popular package manager), installing gh is as simple as running brew install gh. After installation, execute gh auth login to authenticate. Homebrew is a fantastic tool to have for managing command-line utilities.

Once you’ve successfully authenticated gh with your GitHub account, you’ll be able to push your local React project to its newly created remote repository without further authentication issues.

Getting Ready for Visual Studio Code

With your React project safely version-controlled on GitHub, the next step is to equip ourselves with a powerful code editor. We’ll be using Visual Studio Code (VS Code), a highly popular and versatile editor.

For now, the task is simple: head over to the official Visual Studio Code website and download the installer for your operating system.

That’s all for this segment! You’ve successfully connected your local React application to GitHub and initiated the download for VS Code. In our next video blog, we’ll dive deep into VS Code, exploring its interface and getting hands-on with our React project.

Stay tuned for Part 3!