GitHub: A website that stores Git repositories online and adds team features like Pull Requests, code review and issue tracking. GitLab, Bitbucket and Azure Repos are similar services.
Example
Your team’s code lives on GitHub, and you open a Pull Request there when your change is ready.
Why GitHub matters for IT interns
It is also your public portfolio — recruiters often look at students’ GitHub profiles.
Where you will hear it
You will use this term almost daily when working on code with a team, through Git, GitHub, or a similar tool. If someone uses it and you are not sure what they mean in your project, it is completely fine to ask; every team uses terms a little differently.
Related terms
- Feature Branch: A branch created for one specific feature, fix or task.
- Fork: Your own copy of someone else’s repository on GitHub or a similar service, which you can change without…
- Git: The tool most software teams use to keep track of every change made to the code.
- Main Branch: The primary branch of a repository, holding the stable, accepted code.
- Merge: Combining the changes from one branch into another.
- Merge Conflict: When Git can’t combine two changes automatically because both edited the same lines, so a person has to…
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Related guides
Frequently asked questions
What is GitHub?
A website that stores Git repositories online and adds team features like Pull Requests, code review and issue tracking. GitLab, Bitbucket and Azure Repos are similar services.
What is an example of GitHub?
Your team’s code lives on GitHub, and you open a Pull Request there when your change is ready.
Why does GitHub matter for IT interns?
It is also your public portfolio — recruiters often look at students’ GitHub profiles.
Explore more internship terms
The IT Internship Glossary explains 199 terms you will hear before and during your internship, with simple definitions and real examples.
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About the author
Dhaivat has 16+ years of experience in the IT industry, working on AI and cloud technologies, project delivery, and engineering leadership. He has interviewed and mentored many interns, wrote The Lost Intern, and runs the non-commercial Career Impact Initiative, mentoring students for free.