# Tech
You don't need to know how to code to be a PM. However, if you want to be a successful PM who is moving their career and the company forward, it is a good idea to keep a few technical tricks up in their sleeves.
# Technical skills
# Git
Git is what a lot of developers use as their source code (or version) control system. It's not the only version control format, there is also Mercurial and Subversion. However, more and more developers are switching to Git from these systems so, it's good idea to know what it's and how it's working.
# Source control basics
Version control is the practice of tracking and managing changes to code. Whether you are writing a simple application on your own or collaborating on a large software development project as part of a team, source control is a vital component of the development process. Source code management systems allow you to track your code change, see a revision history for your code, and revert to previous versions of a project when needed. With source code management systems, you can collaborate on code with your team, isolate your work until it is ready, and quickly trouble-shoot issues by identifying who made changes and what the changes were. Source code management systems help streamline the development process and provide a centralized source for all your code.
# What is Git?
Git is an open-source distributed source code management system. Git allows you to create a copy of your repository known as a branch. Using this branch, you can then work on your code independently from the stable version of your codebase. Once you are ready with your changes, you can store them as a set of differences, known as a commit. You can pull in commits from other contributors to your repository, push your commits to others, and merge your commits back into the main version of the repository. You can learn more about Git here (opens new window).
# Git platforms
There are many ways to host your code. You can do it on your own server or you can opt in for one of the existing services in the Internet. There are many of them: GitHub (opens new window), GitLab (opens new window), Bitbucket (opens new window) and many more. Authors of this guide chose the GitHUb as the hosting for the code. You can check the repository for yourself: https://github.com/ephimoff/pm-roadmap (opens new window)
# Why it's important for a PM
A few reasons:
- Developers use a specific lingo -
branch,commit,merge conflict, etc. - that came from Git and source code management. If you know what is hidden behind these words it is much easier to talk to your developers. - Understanding Git principle would help you to understand how to control your work. You will start applying this approach to everything you do: designing mockups, writing specs etc. It will boost up your productivity.
- Once you know Git you would be able to contribute to this guide, which we will appreciate very much 🤗