I've been using GitHub for a while. Pushing code, making commits, opening the occasional pull request. I thought I knew it. Then I started working through the GitHub Foundations certificate and realised I knew the surface.

what I already knew

The basics: repositories, commits, branches, push and pull. Enough to not embarrass myself. I could clone a repo, make changes, and get them onto GitHub without losing work.

That's maybe 20% of what GitHub is actually for.

what I didn't know

Issues as a workflow tool. I used them to report bugs on other people's repos. I didn't really think about them as a structured way to manage my own work. Labels, milestones, assignees: there's a whole project management layer I was ignoring.

bash
# I was doing this
git add .
git commit -m "fix stuff"
git push
 
# The certificate made me think more carefully about this
git add src/specific-file.js
git commit -m "fix: resolve null reference in user auth flow"
git push origin feature/user-auth

Branch strategy. I knew branches existed. I didn't have a consistent mental model for when to branch, what to name things, or how it connects to a team's workflow.

GitHub Actions. I'd seen CI/CD mentioned everywhere but never set it up myself. Seeing how a workflow file triggers on push, runs tests, and reports back. That made automation feel approachable.

why formalise something you already use

Because there's a difference between using a tool and understanding it. I can drive a car without knowing how the engine works. But I'm going to spend years building software on top of GitHub, so I want to know the engine.

The certificate also gives me vocabulary. When someone talks about protecting a branch, rebasing versus merging, or a PR review workflow, I want to know exactly what that means and why it matters.

still in progress

I'm not done yet. The foundations certificate is the starting point. There are more advanced certifications: Actions, Advanced Security, Copilot. Right now I'm focused on building the base.

The goal isn't the badge. It's having no gaps in the fundamentals so I can focus on the actual work.