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author | Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> | 2022-01-27 11:02:59 -0800 |
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committer | Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> | 2022-01-27 17:50:04 -0800 |
commit | cdba0295b0a70cf7a8113dd74be90d11ceddd5f7 (patch) | |
tree | 5a75778d8c274cf0cbbee7073118ef3c2fb994ea /Documentation/SubmittingPatches | |
parent | 607817a3c8d2992f69e53c42dfa604b59d1570ba (diff) | |
download | git-cdba0295b0a70cf7a8113dd74be90d11ceddd5f7.tar.gz |
SubmittingPatches: explain why we care about log messages
Extend the "describe your changes well" section to cover whom we are
trying to help by doing so in the first place.
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/SubmittingPatches')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/SubmittingPatches | 29 |
1 files changed, 29 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches index 7225a0fb52..a6121d1d42 100644 --- a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches +++ b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches @@ -110,6 +110,35 @@ run `git diff --check` on your changes before you commit. [[describe-changes]] === Describe your changes well. +The log message that explains your changes is just as important as the +changes themselves. Your code may be clearly written with in-code +comment to sufficiently explain how it works with the surrounding +code, but those who need to fix or enhance your code in the future +will need to know _why_ your code does what it does, for a few +reasons: + +. Your code may be doing something differently from what you wanted it + to do. Writing down what you actually wanted to achieve will help + them fix your code and make it do what it should have been doing + (also, you often discover your own bugs yourself, while writing the + log message to summarize the thought behind it). + +. Your code may be doing things that were only necessary for your + immediate needs (e.g. "do X to directories" without implementing or + even designing what is to be done on files). Writing down why you + excluded what the code does not do will help guide future developers. + Writing down "we do X to directories, because directories have + characteristic Y" would help them infer "oh, files also have the same + characteristic Y, so perhaps doing X to them would also make sense?". + Saying "we don't do the same X to files, because ..." will help them + decide if the reasoning is sound (in which case they do not waste + time extending your code to cover files), or reason differently (in + which case, they can explain why they extend your code to cover + files, too). + +The goal of your log message is to convey the _why_ behind your +change to help future developers. + The first line of the commit message should be a short description (50 characters is the soft limit, see DISCUSSION in linkgit:git-commit[1]), and should skip the full stop. It is also conventional in most cases to |