Version Control System (VCS): (noun) a program that tracks changes to specified files over time and maintains a library of all past versions of those files

Git: (noun) a version control system

repository (repo): (noun) folder containing all tracked files as well as the version control history

commit: (noun) a snapshot of changes made to the staged file(s); (verb) to save a snapshot of changes made to the staged file(s)

stage: (noun) the staging area holds the files to be included in the next commit; (verb) to mark a file to be included in the next commit

track: (noun) a tracked file is one that is recognized by the Git repository

branch: (noun) a parallel version of the files in a repository (Box 7)

local: (noun) the version of your repository that is stored on your personal computer

remote: (noun) the version of your repository that is stored on a remote server, for instance on GitHub

clone: (verb) to create a local copy of a remote repository on your personal computer

fork: (noun) a copy of another user’s repository on GitHub; (verb) to copy a repository, for instance from one user’s GitHub account to your own

merge: (verb) to update files by incorporating the changes introduced in new commits

pull: (verb) to retrieve commits from a remote repository and merge them into a local repository

push: (verb) to send commits from a local repository to a remote repository

pull request: (noun) a message sent by one GitHub user to merge the commits in their remote repository into another user’s remote repository