GitHub
Git hosting, collaboration, and automation: where code lives, reviews happen, and CI often runs.
What it is
GitHub stores repositories, issues, pull requests, and integrates Actions for CI/CD, plus packages and security features. It is the social and operational layer around git.
Why it matters
It is the default coordination hub for many teams: history, review, access control, and hooks into deployment platforms.
When to use it
Use it when you want mainstream tooling, integrations, and predictable collaboration flows. Competitors exist, but GitHub’s ecosystem is the common denominator.
How it fits in the stack
It sits next to your source: version control and automation trigger builds and deploys elsewhere. It is not where your app runs in production by itself.
Common confusion
GitHub is not cloud runtime for your app. Actions can run jobs, but hosting your user-facing app is still a separate platform choice. Git is also not GitHub. You can move remotes without changing git itself.