It's hard to imagine a scenario in which a software developer would not benefit from source control. GitHub provides a repository for developers to store their source code and other digital assets.

To use GitHub, you will need to create an account at https://github.com/ and log in.

To set up a new repository, click the "+" icon next to your name and photo at the top right of the main GitHub page. This displays a dropdown list (Fig 1).

Fig 1

Select "New repository" from this list.  The "New Repository" page displays (Fig 2)

 
Fig 2

At the "Repository name" textbox, enter a name for your repository. This should be brief, but enough to identify the project to you and others.

At the "Description" textbox, you may enter a short description of the project, if you like. This is useful if you want others to contribute.

Use the radio buttons to select whether this will be Public (anyone can view the files in the repository) or Private (only those you invite can see the files). You can only create a private repository if you have a paid GitHub account. Free accounts can only have public repositories.

Checking the checkbox labeled: "Initialize this repository with a README" will create a README.MD file in your repository. This file is displayed on the main page of your project below the list of other files. It should contain text and Markdown language. For a description of Markdown, check out http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/.

There are two dropdowns at the bottom of the page: "Add gitignore" and "Add a license".

The "Add gitignore" dropdown (Fig 3)allows you to quickly create gitignore file.

 
Fig 3

A gitignore contains a list of files that might be on your disc, but that you don't want in source control. These might be user configuration files or binary output files.
Selecting a type of projects creates a gitignore file containing files typically ignored by that project type. For example, if I select "Visual Studio" from the "Add gitignore" dropdown, a file will be created that tells GitHub to not check in "SUO" files or files in my "bin" folder.  Of course, you can always edit the gitignore file after it is created.

The "Add a license" dropdown (Fig 4)allows you to assign a license to the files in your repository.

Fig 4

The license dictates how others can legally use these files and programs - for example, whether they can make money off of code that you share here.  There is a good description of each software license at http://opensource.org/licenses/.

After you complete the form, click the [Create Repository] button. Your repository will be created in a few seconds.