Image source- github
Well, here is the great news for developers! From October, all the new source code repositories created on github will be replaced from “master” to “main”. This is the small effort from the company to vanish unnecessary testimonials of slavery.
Let us first know what git and github is-
GitHub is basically a web based software that is used to host the “source code”- the codes written by the developers. All the source code is stored and synchronized at a place referred to as repository. It is a cloud based graphical user interface.
Git is an open source version and access control system through which developers can create or make changes to the code and all the modifications will be stored in a repository. It is a command line tool used by each and every user or company.
As github is an access control system, even a non-developer can easily download the files through it and use them. It has nothing to do with the development but the management. Github includes a lot of features like forking, branching, and more.
With the help of branching one can link their local code to the centralized repository. Like a tree has its main branch with all its major functions, the “master” branch for developers had a very similar purpose where all the changes of the codes are merged. This “master” term was not found suitable as it is signifying slavery, so the founder decided to replace it with something less racist with which he came up with the term “main”. The changes were first tested internally, now from 1st of next month all the new repositories will be “main” by default or any new repository created from now on will have its branch as “main”. Those with existing repositories will have the same branch as they are having now- “master” but by the end of the year a tool will be offered for renaming the same.
While this move came into play now, the projects like Drupal had already started dimming this term “master” since 2014.