I love seeing things integrate better with the GitHub API. It really is fantastic to see what is possible when a rich Internet application additionally becomes a platform for apps that extend the core value proposition. GitHub has executed on this quite well with their API, now at version 3.0 and with features like gist, repo, user, and even organization management.

I like to keep abreast of just about everything that happens in the Git world, and the JetBrains folks certainly as very active there. The JetBrains issue tracking tool, YouTrack, makes extensive use of the GitHub API and has much in the way of Git love. I’ve been pointing folks at the YouTrack overview video if they want a quick summary and the integration demo, if the GitHub facet is the attraction.

It is always fun to ask a vendor for their view of what’s important and what’s next. The JetBrains team said (paraphrased):

1. Keyboard-centric approach: All common actions have handy shortcuts.
2. Smart issue search: Search with queries similar to everyday language aided by completion and highlighting. For example, type for me unresolved to filter down to open issues assigned to me.
3. Batch modification commands similar to search queries: Select multiple issues and resolve them all by typing fixed assignee Matthew
4. Report from everywhere: You can report issues via email or any third party application via a REST API.
5. Full customization: You can define and use new attributes for your bug tracking and create workflows using a YouTrack workflow editor with a domain-specific language.
6. Integration with VCSs via TeamCity and native integration with GitHub: You can specify an Issue ID and command to be applied to the issue right from commit comment. No opening the bug tracker just to change a bug state.
7. REST API to perform any action programmatically: Complex actions like administration, issue tracking, and user management all have good treatment in the API which means tools can extend the tool if necessary.
8. Import from other bug trackers: History can be imported from any issue tracker using the YouTrack Client Python library. There are even some ready to use scripts to import from the most popular trackers like JIRA, FogBugz, Mantis, and Bugzilla.
9. Constant innovation with transparency: The roadmap is public and agile project management is the next big focus.

More Git-integrating tool reviews are being planned. Stay tuned.

I had the wonderful opportunity of being sponsored by No Fluff, Just Stuff Symposiums to speak at the New Hampshire JUG in Portsmouth on Tuesday. It was a lively crowd of 20 or so persons hosted by the excellent Ted Pennings, Matt Merrill, NHJUG, and Scott Curry.

We discussed Git, GitHub, IntelliJ, and eGit with regards to their importance to the broad JVM ecosystem. Many insightful questions were asked, such as “is the efficiency of the hard links to unchanged blobs maintained on Windows.” The answer was yes, because this is not actually a POSIX hardlink for commits, but rather an implementation like, but not exactly hardlinks inside Git tree objects.

CFMeetup

On Thursday, I had the equally delightful opportunity to speak to the CFMeetup online group, hosted by Charlie Aerhart and facilitated in part by Mike Henke, and supported by Tim Cunningham. It had a turnout of 35-45 persons, and has a significant additional viewership for the recorded sessions at Vimeo.

Resources

I promised some links to Git resources and they are as follows:

• Presentation slides in PDF format
• Curated Git links
• Git GUIs
• ProGit.org Free Online Book
• Gitorious open source web app for self-hosted Git repos
• GitHub’s unlimited free open source project hosting

Git workshop

Oh, and last, but not least, our Presentation Patterns talk (with the venerable Neal Ford and well-known Nate Schutta) was also accepted as a talk at OSCON. Double win!

The first pair of recent stops began with ScanDev, a wonderful conference that brings agility, .Net, open source, and Java solutions together under one roof. I will continue to head back any time that I’m invited. Tim Berglund of August Technology Group and I paired up to teach a Git workshop before the conference. I was able to meet a student from Denmark that I had coached via the Internet on the topic of Maven, from years past. He was back to add Git to his skill set. The second leg of the trip after ScanDev routed me to Kraków, Poland for the 33rd Degree conference. I would rate the students there as some of the most intent listeners and passionate learners I’ve had the privilege to teach in the last year. I’m hoping I have an invitation to return to the 2012 instance of this show.

The second tour began eleven days ago and included my very first opportunity to teach Git at JAX in Mainz, Germany. This is a conference that Ted Neward and Neal Ford constantly say wonderful things about. I got to experience that first hand. A completely full room for the Git workshop was a wonderfully welcoming sight. The group and I had a great day together doing tons of hands-on Git repository manipulation.

Leg number two of this run took me to Linz, Austria for a combination of a full-day Git workshop followed by a Git talk at the eJUG run by the very professional Martin Ahrer. The group was chomping at the bit to return to work the following day and start converting SVN repos to Git.

The summation of this trip took me to Basel, Switzerland, which, I can report, is as beautiful as every other part of Helvetia that I’ve had the chance to see. Hamlet D’Arcy and the Canoo crew had me do two days of Git training in which both Canooies and external students attended. It was maxed out on both days — the room could not hold a single additional person. I squeezed in a walking tour of a quadrant of the city with Hamlet and his daughter on her skooter. I can see the attraction of living there with foot access to meals, shops, parks, the Rhein and flights to just about anywhere in Europe. It was in sum, a delight in every respect.

Attention turns to the future with the St. Louis instance of No Fluff Just Stuff right around the corner at the end of this week and a multi-day Git private training in New York City for the majority of the following week. Then, there’s the Salt Lake City JUG, and the Dallas NFJS. More Git fun almost every week of this year.

With this much attention on Git, there must be something to it. If you haven’t taken a look at it yet, set aside an hour (or six) of your time this coming week and do so. Let me know what you think. Maybe even sign up for a class if your interest is piqued.

Some of you have been asking for a preview of the resources I used as references for this talk. Below is a non-exhaustive list to get you started:

• Prisoner’s Dilemma
  
  The most referenced volume in the realm of Game Theory
• The Teaching Company: Games People Play
  
  12 hours of high-quality video lectures by Dr. Scott Stevens, James Madison University.
• Rock. Paper. Scissors.: Game Theory in Everyday Life
  
  A basic introduction with diagrams and only a few math demands on the reader.
• Game Theory: A Non-technical Introduction
  
  A solid primer almost absent of math. Uses tables, graphs and diagrams as the visual channel.
• The Art of Strategy
  
  Recommended by Ted Neward. A different perspective and writing style from the other volumes listed.
• Your Career Game
  
  A focus on career advancement and recognizing Game Theory patterns in office behaviors.
• SuperCooperators
  
  A societal view of Game Theory.
• Beautiful Math
  
  A focus on Nash’s contributions to Game Theory.
• A Beautiful Mind
  
  Focuses on the psychosis of John Nash.
• Gambit
  
  Open source Game Theory software.
• Matthew’s Delicious Game Theory Bookmarks
  
  Set of curated bookmarks on the topic of Game Theory.

Ben Franklin Octocat and I are pleased to announce that I’ll be giving one and possibly even two days of Git training at the Canoo offices in Basel, Switzerland in May.  There is some room for public registrants, so take a quick look at the page and if the very affordable 225 CHF fits your budget, come and join us on that Thursday or Friday for a great day of Git mentoring (in-person is always the most valuable form of learning).

You”ll walk away with a solid understanding of the Git DVCS tool — not just wrote memorization.  The class is conducted in a very interactive style and we’ll aim to travel from the basics all the way to some very advanced DVCS moves.  You’ll be able to wield ultimate power over your source code history whether stored locally, at your company, or on the awesome GitHub platform.

See you in CH!

It sounded like a good plan, and I received the generous support of GitHub, the awesome web-enabled half of Git to make the trip possible. Wanting to maximize the Git teaching time spent in Stockholm, Mattias and some of my Swedish colleagues helped organize 1, then 3, and now 5 Git training opportunities. The plan is now to spend nearly 5 to 10 hours per day teaching Git; I couldn’t be more excited!

If you are in the Stockholm region and want to learn why Git is not just another tool in your belt, but literally a refreshing new way to think about source control and code collaboration, then contact Mattias or I. Get in on one of the events from Monday through Friday of this week (February 14 through 18) and Git Going.

See you in Stockholm!

I have the privilege of announcing that the videos that Tim Berglund and I recorded in a Denver film studio just a brief while ago are now for sale at the O’Reilly online store. These 5 hours of downloadable and streamable Git training videos are similar to the in-person and online classes that I teach about this exciting distributed version control system. The price point is aggressive — a mere $49.95 USD — and they can be watched, increment by increment, at your leisure from the comfort of your couch at home or discomfort of your next plane flight.

These videos aim to give you a ground-up tutorial on the mechanics and usage of the Git distributed version control system. With the recent milestones of 1,500,000 repositories and 500,000 users at GitHub, the premier place to host Git repositories in a collaborative and dare I say, social way, Git is gaining incredible traction with software craftsmen and craftswomen everywhere.

A few fantastic comments have been made about the videos in the few days that they’ve been on the market. Here’s one from a good friend and long-time NFJS attendee, Darin Pope:

The filter-branch command can be very confusing at first. What’s needed is a set of working examples. I’ve got 5 scripted flows to show you how to use it. Just hop over to my ever-growing git workbook that I use for workshops and look for module #27 as PDF or as HTML. There’s a corresponding set of samples in the example-repos directory.

If you are interested in more of these type of advanced moves with Git, stay tuned for my upcoming O’Reilly Git Master Class videos (directly O’Reilly link soon), monthly Git trainings via GitHub.com, No Fluff Just Stuff tour stops, or one of my international conferences hosting my Git talks.