Comment by baobun
2 days ago
5. Teaching `git add .` as default to add changes to the staging area is not ideal. Show adding specific files instead has less room for subsequent "oh shit" and better.
2 days ago
5. Teaching `git add .` as default to add changes to the staging area is not ideal. Show adding specific files instead has less room for subsequent "oh shit" and better.
Learning about the `-p` option for `git add` was one of two things that revolutionized my Git usage. (The other was figuring out how to write effective commit messages.)
This is the main reason to use a GUI imho.
Tig is a great one for the terminal fwiw.
gitg for something simple, graphical and widely available.
True enough, but it does make for good practice with the index and splitting workflows later on when you need to clean it up.
I think there's space for "git add ." as a didactic step. It maps cleanly to the most obvious way to understand a commit, as "here's what I've done". Bootstrapping from that to an understanding of "commits as communication with other developers" will naturally happen over time.
Is not very compatible with printlog-debugging. I'd rather encourage devs to prod around as they go if it benefits them, which causes grief for either them or reviewers in the end if they've internalized what you just said.
Explicitly adding internalizes a personal review process as inherent part of the push process, instead of something you attempt to force on top later.
It's better with a collaboration workflow that limits the span of time with expected discipline, imo.
You can have both. Make sure the whole diff is what you want it to be before invoking `add .`
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