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What Goes in Git Sorting Activity

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<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/stem-robots/sims/git-what-to-commit-sorter/main.html"
        height="522px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

About This MicroSim

Not every file in your robot project belongs in a Git repository. Your code and documentation should be committed, so they are saved and shared. Files that hold passwords, or files your computer makes automatically, belong in .gitignore, the list of files Git should skip.

This MicroSim is a sorting game with ten real project files: main.py, config.py, motors.py, vl53l0x.py, README.md, secrets.py, wifi_password.txt, __pycache__/, notes.pyc, and .DS_Store. You drag each card into one of two bins.

Two panels update after every drop:

  • The Repository preview lists what would be public on GitHub. If a password file lands in the commit bin, the panel turns red with a lock and the warning "Your WiFi password is now public!"
  • The Generated .gitignore panel builds the file you would create, one line per ignored file.

How to Use

  1. Drag each file card from Project files into Commit to Git or Put in .gitignore. Drop a card anywhere else to send it back to the pile.
  2. Check Show hints if you want a one-line clue under each card in the pile.
  3. Press Check answers. Each card gets a green check or a red X, and the score shows how many of the 10 are correct.
  4. Click any card after checking to read why it belongs in its bin.
  5. Press Reset to start again.

This MicroSim goes with the version control section of Chapter 5: Data Structures, Modular Programming, and Version Control.

Lesson Plan

Grade Level

Grades 8–12 (introductory programming with a physical robot)

Duration

10–15 minutes

Prerequisites

  • The Git commit workflow: git add and git commit (Chapter 5, "Version Control with Git")
  • The config.py pattern and module files (Chapter 5, "Modular Programming")
  • Knowing that secrets.py stores the WiFi name and password (Chapter 5, "The .gitignore File")

Learning Objective

Students will be able to classify (Bloom's Taxonomy: Understand) robot project files as belonging in a Git repository or in .gitignore, and explain why each choice protects the project or its secrets.

Activities

  1. Sort without hints (4 min). Students sort all ten cards with hints off and press Check answers. They record their first score.
  2. Learn from mistakes (3 min). Students click each red X card, read the reason, and move it. They re-check until they reach 10 of 10.
  3. Group the reasons (4 min). In pairs, students sort the five ignored files into two groups: "secrets" and "made automatically." They explain why each group stays out of Git.
  4. Build the real file (3 min). Students compare the Generated .gitignore panel with the chapter's .gitignore and note that *.pyc covers every compiled file, not just notes.pyc.

Assessment

  • Challenge: Sort all ten cards with no hints and score 10 of 10. Then answer: what happens if you commit secrets.py before adding it to .gitignore? Answer: the password is stored in the repository history, so you should change the password right away.
  • Exit ticket: "Name one file that must never be committed and one file that must always be committed. Give a reason for each."
  • Rubric (4-point): Exemplary scores 10 of 10 without hints and explains both categories of ignored files, including why a leaked password must be changed. Proficient scores 9–10 and explains the password risk. Developing scores 7–8 or ignores library files such as vl53l0x.py. Beginning scores below 7 or commits password files.

References

  1. Chapter 5: Data Structures, Modular Programming, and Version Control - the Git commit workflow and the .gitignore file for robot projects.
  2. Git documentation: gitignore - the official reference for .gitignore patterns.
  3. GitHub Docs: Ignoring files - how to create a .gitignore for a repository.
  4. GitHub Docs: Removing sensitive data from a repository - why a committed secret stays in history and must be changed.
  5. Git (Wikipedia) - background on the Git version control system.