Git Workflow for FTC Teams

Protect working code while students experiment.

Team Workflow and Competition ReadinessTeam

In this lesson, you will:

Use branches.
Write behavior-focused commits.
Know the deployed commit.

Concept narrative

Git is how the programming team experiments without losing the last working robot. It creates a history that can be reviewed, reverted, and trusted at events.

Robot mental model

A branch is a safe workspace. A commit is a named robot behavior change. A pull request is a chance for teammates to catch risk before the robot does.

Implementation walkthrough

Use short-lived feature branches, commit small behavior changes, pull before field testing, and tag or record the deployed commit before matches.

GitCommands.mdJava

git switch -c feat/arm-telemetry
git status
git add TeamCode/src/main/java
git commit -m "feat: add arm state telemetry"
git push

Common mistakes and debugging

If nobody knows what code is on the robot, debugging starts in a hole. If commits are huge, rollback is scary.

Practice

Make a branch, commit one telemetry improvement, and explain how to revert it.

Checkpoint

Branch names describe work.
Commit messages describe behavior.
Deployed commit is recorded.
The test record includes the setup, prediction, and observed result.
A teammate can repeat the check from the saved evidence without guessing.

Reflection check

Check your understanding before moving on.

Why create a short-lived feature branch before changing arm behavior?

It deploys code to the Control Hub automatically.

It isolates a reviewable experiment from the known working branch.

It removes the need to test on blocks.

What should a commit message identify for robot code?

Every source file in the repository.

The team’s current battery voltage.

The observable behavior changed and its relevant subsystem.

0 of 2 answered

References

Game Manual 0FTC community reference for programming, controls, and robot design.Pro GitOfficial Git book covering branches, commits, remotes, and recovery.