Read supporting documentation

Before you dive in and make changes, you should first read the supporting documentation.

README

Example of a README file

GitHub automatically displays the README file on the home page of the repository. Most open source projects have a detailed README section. This is a great place to start.

CONTRIBUTING

Example of a CONTRIBUTING file

The CONTRIBUTING.md file tells you how to contribute to the project and includes standards and best practices. Here is an example.

List of best practices for contributors

After you read the supporting documentation and feel ready to dive in, jump into the next section to learn about how to use Git.