Stage 2 · Lesson 8 of 9

Writing a README

is the first file people see when they open a . For a student, it often decides whether a looks any further. Cover five things: what the project does in one or two sentences, a screenshot or GIF, the stack (the languages and tools you used), how to run it on your own computer step by step, and what you would improve next.

Write it in , the simple formatting language displays. Test the setup steps on a fresh clone (a new copy of the repository), because broken instructions are common. Writing it also makes you explain your own project, which is practice for talking about it later.

Common trapleaving the default text, or nothing at all, on repositories you then pin.

A question to check yourself, an AI practice session and 1 cheat sheet entry come with the full roadmap. Unlock

Resources for this stage

Start with· follow one of these

GitHub repoFree
GitHub Skills: Introduction to GitHub
GitHub · Beginner
Free hands-on exercise: branch, commit, open and merge a pull request in about an hour
CourseFree
The Missing Semester of Your CS Education
MIT · Beginner
MIT lectures on the tools degrees skip; the shell and version control lectures are enough here

Practise

Learn Git Branching
Draws the commit graph as you type, so branches and merges finally make sense
First Contributions
Your first real pull request, on a repository that exists to accept it

Keep handy

Managing Your Profile README (GitHub Docs)
Official steps for the profile README that sits at the top of your GitHub page
Oh Shit, Git!?!
Plain-English fixes for the day a commit, merge or push goes wrong

Also worth your time

Creating a Winning Coding Portfolio to Impress Interviewers (opens in a new tab)Read
How to choose, structure and present projects so a reviewer sees your best work first