Practical GitHub: Advanced Use Cases

Abstract

Beyond the basics: the GitHub features that level up personal and industry projects. Compares branching strategies, then works through real use cases of Codespaces, GitHub Actions (CI/CD), Copilot (editor, terminal, and web), and GitHub Models.

Outline

1. Branching strategies compared (Git Flow, GitHub Flow, trunk-based)
2. GitHub Codespaces: your free cloud dev environment
3. GitHub Actions: client- and server-side validation, CI/CD
4. GitHub Copilot in the editor, terminal, and on the web
5. Bonus: GitHub Models for free AI experimentation

Key takeaways

• Pick a branching strategy that matches team size and release cadence
• Actions + Husky catch problems before they reach main
• Codespaces gives you a disposable, full-power dev machine for free