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cs2010 Notes: 09-23 Text Files and Git

·348 words·2 mins·

Computing Fundamentals
#

  • We know how text is stored on a computer.
  • We know about text files.
  • We know about Git.

So now I can explain the fundamentals of computing and using a computer for some productive purpose:

  • You make text files.
  • You store them in a Git repository.

One major exception: Multimedia

  • If you need to hear audio or see visuals, you’ll need to deal with non-text files that probably aren’t stored in Git.
  • Your workflow probably should still have a lot of text/git, but it can’t be entirely text/git.

Plain text compared to what?
#

HTML is plain text

<!doctype html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Hello, Web</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello, Web</h1>
    <p>This is a web page</p>
  <body>
</html>

What about MS Word?

  • Create test doc.
  • Download it.
  • file x.docx shows MS Word Document
  • But it’s really a zip archive.
  • unzip x.docx
  • cat word/document.xml
  • sudo apt install libxml2-utils
  • xmllint –format word/document.xml

What about pictures?

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 400 400" width="100%" height="100%">
  <!-- 1. Head -->
  <circle cx="200" cy="200" r="175" fill="#FFCC00" />

  <!-- 2 & 3. Rosy Cheeks -->
  <circle cx="95" cy="235" r="28" fill="#FF2A6D" />
  <circle cx="305" cy="235" r="28" fill="#FF2A6D" />

  <!-- 4 & 5. Eyes -->
  <ellipse cx="140" cy="165" rx="18" ry="26" fill="#111322" />
  <ellipse cx="260" cy="165" rx="18" ry="26" fill="#111322" />

  <!-- 6. Mouth Interior -->
  <path d="M 135 220 Q 200 330 265 220 Q 200 235 135 220 Z" fill="#111322" />

  <!-- 7 & 8. Vampire Fangs -->
  <polygon points="160,223 182,225 171,262" fill="#FFFFFF" />
  <polygon points="218,225 240,223 229,262" fill="#FFFFFF" />
</svg>

And a really amazing format: Markdown

# The Three Little Pigs

## Chapter 1

Once upon a time there were three little pigs.

[Three Little Pigs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Little_Pigs)

pandoc -o pigs.html pigs.md

Why Source Control
#

Git / Github Collaborative Workflow
#

  • Start a project.
  • Grab that SVG
  • Initialize a git repository.
  • Make a change.
  • Commit
  • Make a Github repo
  • Push
  • Clone to a second checkout.
  • Make a feature branch
  • Make a change
  • Commit
  • Push
  • PR

We should probably do some of this later, but that’s the key idea.

Nat Tuck
Author
Nat Tuck