Repository Review and Cleanup - Day 1
This week we are going to take a break from in-class assignments and spend a little time focusing our our project git repositories. We will start back in with physical-modeling next week.
Agenda (80 minutes)
- 5 min - Check-in and goals for the two-day repository tune-up
- 20 min - Live instructor review of one volunteer (or anonymized) repository
- 10 min - Build your Repo Diet plan (what to keep, remove, and move)
- 30 min - Repository cleanup sprint
- 15 min - Pair check and share-out
Learning Goals
By the end of this class, you should be able to:
- Review a repository from the point of view of a first-time reader.
- Reduce a repository to the files that matter right now.
Live Review
The instructor will clone a repository fresh and review it out loud: Can I find the README? Can I set it up? Can I run one command and see a result? Which files are noise? Use the Quick Peer Review Form to follow along and score the same repository yourself.
Repo Diet
Reference repositories contain far more than a project needs this early. Do not keep a file just because it came with the reference. Remove anything you cannot explain, and bring it back later when you need it (git history keeps it safe).
Work through this list in your own repository:
- Delete or
git rmplaceholder files, empty folders, and unused template content. - Keep a short, accurate README with setup and one run command.
- Create a
paper/folder if you do not have one. - Move your in-class reflections into
paper/(for examplepaper/reflections.md, one dated entry per class). - Check
.gitignoreso data dumps, checkpoints, environments, and cache files are not committed. - Make small commits with clear messages as you go, following the course git guidelines.
Before Next Class
- Push your cleaned-up repository and confirm it is on the default branch.
- Fresh-clone your own repository into a new folder and note anything that breaks.
- Bring your laptop ready to run a teammate’s project.