Git & GitHub Course
Git & GitHub
/
Beginner

GitHub Pages

Definition

A free static site hosting service offered directly by GitHub. It takes HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files straight from a repository and publishes a website.

Explain Like I'm New

Free web hosting. You push your `index.html` and `styles.css` files to a GitHub repository, go to the repository Settings, turn on GitHub Pages, and within 30 seconds, your website is live on the internet at `your-username.github.io/project-name`.

Real World Example

Hosting your personal portfolio website entirely for free without needing to buy a server or set up AWS.

Common Use Cases

  • •Hosting static websites
  • •Hosting documentation
  • •Personal portfolios

Terminal Output

bash / terminal
/* How to deploy a basic site to GitHub Pages: 1. Create an 'index.html' file locally. 2. Push it to the 'main' branch on GitHub. 3. On GitHub, click 'Settings' -> 'Pages' (on the left sidebar). 4. Under 'Build and deployment', set Source to 'Deploy from a branch'. 5. Select the 'main' branch and click Save. 6. Wait 1 minute. Your site is live! */

Interview Questions

basic

  • Can GitHub pages host a Node.js or Python backend server?

intermediate

  • Which branch does GitHub Pages usually look at to publish your site?

Flash Cards

Question

Host backend?

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Answer

NO. GitHub Pages only hosts STATIC files (HTML, CSS, JS, images). It cannot run server-side code like Node.js, PHP, or databases.

Question

Which branch?

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Answer

By default, it looks at the root of the `main` branch, or a specialized branch called `gh-pages`.