About

Hi there and welcome to Initial Commit! My name is Jacob Stopak and I'm a self-taught programmer/developer/hacker who started learning Python around 2002. Like many kids, I first played around with making games with tools like Pygame. Eventually this evolved into learning to use the Linux command-line, learning Git, and web development frameworks such as Spring Boot. Currently, I'm self-employed as a software consultant / independent contractor and I run this website as a side-gig, until it can become my main gig :)


Image of the headshot



I created Initial Commit to empower coders of all skill levels to keep pressing forward in their coding journeys. We create educational content resources, build open-source tools, and provide responsive coding support. As you can tell by the name of the site, initialcommit.com has a strong focus on Git and versions control systems, but also covers Python, Java, Spring Boot, AWS, Vim, and various other dev topics. We hope that our efforts will:


  • Motivate you to learn to code
  • Make programming concepts more intuitive
  • Improve your development skills
  • Increase your productivity
  • Contribute to open-source
  • Encourage you to start a coding website and blog of your own