Git Best Practices

.gitignore

Don't check your editor's temporary files, nor files from OS X like .DS_Store into your repository. Github offers a handy collection of .gitignore files, some of which are global and can be added to your global .gitignore, and others which are project specific.

Large Data

Add large data (BAM/SAM, FASTQ/FASTA files, etc) to your project's .gitignore.

Commit Messages

Use informative commit messages.

Do not edit history, i.e. don't push commits, and then do a git commit --amend and push revised history to shared repositories. This is acceptable if it's your private repository.