What is GitHub:

GitHub is a for-profit company that provides cloud-based Git repository hosting services (‌Holcombe, J., 2018).

GitHub has now become a central hub for innovation, learning and community-driven development. From tracking bugs and planning features to automatically deploying code and collaborating on open-source projects, GitHub supports every stage of the software lifecycle (Black, S., 2025).

How GitHub works (Sandu, B., 2026)：

GitHub operates on version control. Every change to a file is tracked, timestamped and attributed to a specific person. You can revert to any previous state of the project at any time.

Repositories and File Storage：

A repository is the basic unit. Each repository contains all the files for a project, as well as the complete revision history for each file.

• Cloning allows you to copy a remote repository to your local machine.
• The commit history records all changes made to the project, who made them, and when they were made.
• A branch is a parallel version of the code. Changes can be made to a branch in isolation, and then proposed for merging back into the main branch. Branches help keep the main codebase stable and enable multiple people to work on it simultaneously.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of GitHub (‌Clancy, J., 2018)：

Advantages：

• Collaboration: GitHub is ideal for remote collaboration. Multiple people can work on the same code online or offline, and this code is stored in a single Git repository.
• Backup: GitHub provides a simple and convenient way to make code and version history accessible online.
• GitHub’s community and open-source support provide a wealth of resources and shared knowledge (The CTO Club, 2025).

Disadvantages：

• Safety：When it comes to high-value intellectual property, using GitHub is effectively handing it all over to GitHub and anyone with login credentials.
• Price：Some features on GitHub, as well as those on other online repositories, are locked behind a SaaS paywall.
• Merge conflicts and the risks associated with changes to the main branch (Raymond, D., 2023).

My Opinion:

My main reason for choosing GitHub is for backup purposes. As my computer cannot run UE5, I usually work on my team member Zixuan’s computer and on the computers in the school classrooms. I therefore really need a platform where I can share code, so that changes I make on the school computers can be synchronised with my team member’s computer. Using GitHub allows me to synchronise my work both during and after class.

As I only use GitHub’s most basic features, I don’t need to worry about costs. Furthermore, as I am the only technical member of our team, I am the only one using GitHub, so conflicts are unlikely to arise. The drawbacks mentioned above do not have a significant impact on me.

As mentioned in the section on advantages, collaboration and version control are my primary reasons for using GitHub, and these are also its key strengths. Furthermore, as a beginner with UE5, there is a risk that my actions might cause errors in the programme that I am unable to resolve; GitHub allows me to revert to previous versions, thereby minimising any losses and ensuring the security of our project. For these reasons, GitHub is my preferred choice.

Reference:

Black, S. (2025). What Is GitHub and How Does It Work? A Beginner’s Guide. [online] ColabCodes. Available at: https://www.colabcodes.com/post/what-is-github.

‌Sandu, B. (2026). What Is GitHub? A Beginner’s Overview. [online] TMS Outsource. Available at: https://tms-outsource.com/blog/posts/what-is-github/ [Accessed 10 May 2026].

‌Holcombe, J. (2018). What Is GitHub? A Beginner’s Introduction to GitHub. [online] Kinsta®. Available at: https://kinsta.com/blog/what-is-github/.

‌Clancy, J. (2018). The Pros and Cons of Using GitHub for Repository Management. [online] CodeClouds. Available at: https://www.codeclouds.com/blog/advantages-disadvantages-using-github/.

Raymond, D. (2023). Top 10 Cons & Disadvantages of Using GitHub. [online] Articles for Project Managers – The Project Management Network. Available at: https://projectmanagers.net/top-10-cons-disadvantages-of-using-github/.

The CTO Club (2025). GitHub Review 2026: Pros, Cons, Features, and Pricing. [online] The CTO Club. Available at: https://thectoclub.com/tools/github-review/ [Accessed 10 May 2026].