Repos

A repository, often shortened to repo, is a storage location for a project's code, data, and related assets, along with a history of changes. In software development, repos enable version control, collaboration, rollback, and auditing. Repos can be local to a developer's machine or hosted remotely on services that provide collaboration features.

Source code repositories use version control systems to track changes over time. A repository contains commits, branches, tags, and a working directory. In distributed systems like Git, developers clone a repository to create a local copy, commit changes, and push to a remote repository; others may fetch, pull, review via merge or pull requests, and merge into main branches. Remote repositories serve as a single source of truth, while forks or clones support parallel development.

Package repositories provide storage for software packages and libraries for distribution and installation. They manage versions, dependencies, and metadata, and are used by package managers such as npm, PyPI, Maven Central, apt, and Homebrew. Users install packages from repositories, and maintainers publish new versions, sometimes with signing and checksums for integrity.

Governance and workflows: Repos enforce access control, licensing, and contribution guidelines. Common practices include code reviews, continuous integration, and automated testing. Dependency management often involves lockfiles to fix transitive versions and ensure reproducible builds.

Best practices and considerations: back up repositories, avoid storing large binaries in version control, use appropriate .gitignore entries, and organize projects with clear branching models. Public repos may require license selection and attribution. Package repositories should be managed to monitor security and update dependencies promptly.