Tips for Intermediate Git Users

#1

Post by pmoriarty » Mon, Jan 12, 2015, 3:13 AM UTC

Tips for Intermediate Git Users
andyjeffries.co.uk

Re: Tips for Intermediate Git Users

#2

Post by vowelless » Mon, Jan 12, 2015, 5:30 AM UTC

It looks like this is a list to get to you intermediate level in git, as opposed to tips for already intermediate git users .

I would have liked to see some points about git-bisect, hooks, etc.

Re: Tips for Intermediate Git Users

#3

Post by iamthebest » Mon, Jan 12, 2015, 5:53 AM UTC

This looks like a set of notes that are mostly correct but encourage bad practices. I think it's because they author doesn't understand git and doesn't know what they are doing.

>A lightweight tag is simply a named pointer to a commit. You can always change it to point to another commit.

Umm, you can do this, but in general you should never rename tags. Occasionally a developer will tell me the tag they pushed is incorrect and I'll agree to remove it only if they promise not to re-create it. If you read the man page on git-tag it's clear why you should avoid doing this.

>A lovely little tip – don’t forget that branch names aren’t limited to a-z and 0-9. It can be quite nice to use / and . in names for fake namespacing

If you use '/' is branch names you can create path conflicts. I've seen it happen and it took me a day to debug and figure out. There is some code checking for path conflicts in the git source but it's not invoked via all code paths that create branches. I recommend against using slashes in branch names unless you know what you are doing.

Re: Tips for Intermediate Git Users

#4

Post by stiff » Mon, Jan 12, 2015, 6:12 AM UTC

The master tip: have a detailed written policy on git usage, on what goes into which branch, on git commit message format, and make really, really sure everyone understands it before they start anything.

No tips will help if the history is crap.

Re: Tips for Intermediate Git Users

#5

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jan 12, 2015, 6:28 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Tips for Intermediate Git Users

#6

Post by sledgehammer » Mon, Jan 12, 2015, 6:29 AM UTC

Here is a more useful tip:

http://pastebin.com/RP9ZdZY5

Re: Tips for Intermediate Git Users

#7

Post by hueving » Mon, Jan 12, 2015, 6:35 AM UTC

iamthebest wrote: post #3

This looks like a set of notes that are mostly correct but encourage bad practices. I think it's because they author doesn't understand git and doesn't know what they are doing. >A lightweight tag is simply a named pointer to a commit. You can always change it to point to another commit. Umm, you can do this, but in general you should never rename tags. Occasionally a developer will tell me the tag they pushed is inc…

>If you use '/' is branch names you can create path conflicts. I've seen it happen and it took me a day to debug and figure out. There is some code checking for path conflicts in the git source but it's not invoked via all code paths that create branches. I recommend against using slashes in branch names unless you know what you are doing.

Can you elaborate on this? What you said doesn't make much sense. If having a slash in the branch name creates path conflicts, that means slashes are treated specially, right? How exactly does someone 'know what they are doing' to be able to use them?

Re: Tips for Intermediate Git Users

#8

Post by je42 » Mon, Jan 12, 2015, 6:49 AM UTC

hueving wrote: post #7

iamthebest wrote: post #3

This looks like a set of notes that are mostly correct but encourage bad practices. I think it's because they author doesn't understand git and doesn't know what they are doing. >A lightweight tag is simply a named pointer to a commit. You can always change it to point to another commit. Umm, you can do this, but in general you should never rename tags. Occasionally a developer will tell me the tag they pushed is inc…

>If you use '/' is branch names you can create path conflicts. I've seen it happen and it took me a day to debug and figure out. There is some code checking for path conflicts in the git source but it's not invoked via all code paths that create branches. I recommend against using slashes in branch names unless you know what you are doing. Can you elaborate on this? What you said doesn't make much sense. If having a…

I really like to use '/' to create folders. Git (X) has a nice GUI for this naming convention.

Re: Tips for Intermediate Git Users

#9

Post by jtreminio » Mon, Jan 12, 2015, 7:24 AM UTC

sledgehammer wrote: post #6

Here is a more useful tip: http://pastebin.com/RP9ZdZY5

That's nothing but aliases.

Re: Tips for Intermediate Git Users

#10

Post by iamthebest » Mon, Jan 12, 2015, 7:35 AM UTC

hueving wrote: post #7

iamthebest wrote: post #3

This looks like a set of notes that are mostly correct but encourage bad practices. I think it's because they author doesn't understand git and doesn't know what they are doing. >A lightweight tag is simply a named pointer to a commit. You can always change it to point to another commit. Umm, you can do this, but in general you should never rename tags. Occasionally a developer will tell me the tag they pushed is inc…

>If you use '/' is branch names you can create path conflicts. I've seen it happen and it took me a day to debug and figure out. There is some code checking for path conflicts in the git source but it's not invoked via all code paths that create branches. I recommend against using slashes in branch names unless you know what you are doing. Can you elaborate on this? What you said doesn't make much sense. If having a…

Yeah. For example:

  $ git branch fireos
  $ git branch fireos/feature-branch
  error: unable to create directory for .git/refs/heads/fireos/feature-branch
  fatal: Failed to lock ref for update: No such file or directory

This happens because creating 'fireos' branch stores the sha1 in file .git/refs/heads/fireos. But if you later want to create branch 'fireos/feature-branch', git needs to store the sha1 in .git/refs/heads/fireos/feature-branch. This is impossible because 'fireos' is a file and cannot be a directory. Path conflict.