3 Resources to Learn (More) about GitHub Commits

A note: This post was created on a previous domain and migrated in 2018{: style=“color:gray; font-size: 80%; text-align: center;”}

We talk at great length about sharing code and sometimes forget the simple stuff.

For instance, GitHub repositories are records of shared history. That’s it. What’s the history of our code base? Who made it that way? Why did they think that was a good idea? (The last question never comes up when you need it yet always as an afterthought.)

Here are some resources that helped me continue to remember that GitHub is a series of commits telling a story of history:

  • Learn Git Branching – this was the visual game that challenges you to understand exactly what git is doing when you use certain commands. If you learn anything from this post, it should be to walk through this.
  • On Commit Messages (2009) – This post is a treasure trove of reminders on why a good commit message is worth the effort.
  • Try Git - Resources from GitHub - Learn Git in 15 minutes with a little help of Octocat.

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Bonus: This quote got me.

“SCM (Software Control Management) is all about history. Why don’t we use it all the way? Atomic commit. Thinking about the future, picture yourself looking at the code five years form now”.

Some links are from attending an event called Git Fest that was documented by TJ on his blog. Thanks TJ!