We got tired of our students panicking at merge conflicts so we built a free 20-lesson Git course
We run a Java bootcamp and kept running into the same problem — students could write code just fine but completely froze the second Git threw a merge conflict at them. Or they'd accidentally push to main and have no idea how to undo it. Honestly, most of them had "learned" Git from some 10-minute YouTube video and were basically just memorizing commands without understanding what was happening.
We looked around for something to recommend and everything was either way too shallow or a $50 Udemy course that's mostly someone talking over slides. So we just... built one ourselves.
It's 20 lessons with a real Ubuntu terminal right in the browser. Not a simulator — an actual terminal. You read the explanation on the left, type the commands on the right. There's no Run button. You type it or it doesn't happen.
It goes from absolute zero all the way through the stuff most free courses skip:
- Git basics — init, commits, staging area, diffs, undoing mistakes
- Branching — merges, merge conflicts (we make you trigger one on purpose), rebasing
- GitHub — pushing, pulling, forking, PRs, code review
- How teams actually work — feature branches, conventional commits, branch protection
- The advanced stuff — cherry-pick, reflog, bisect
You fork a repo that has real bugs in it, fix them on branches, open PRs with CI running, and tag a release. When you're done your GitHub profile has an actual repo with real commits and green checks — not a PDF certificate nobody cares about.
Whole thing is free. Not "first 3 lessons free." All 20 lessons, no credit card, no catch.
LINK: https://www.javapro.academy/bootcamp/free-git-and-github-course/
P.S. You think we're missing something, we'd honestly love to hear it.