[vtk-developers] Commit log guidelines
Sean McBride
sean at rogue-research.com
Tue May 17 17:21:33 EDT 2016
On Tue, 17 May 2016 12:15:22 -0400, Utkarsh Ayachit said:
>Folks,
>
>I recently came across this: http://chris.beams.io/posts/git-commit/
>
>Any thoughts on adopting this as a style guide? The rules are:
>
>1. Separate subject from body with a blank line
>2. Limit the subject line to 50 characters
>3. Capitalize the subject line
>4. Do not end the subject line with a period
>5. Use the imperative mood in the subject line
>6. Wrap the body at 72 characters
>7. Use the body to explain what and why vs. how
>
>I think (7) really brings it home, although I wonder if a short "how"
>can also be included.
What problem are we solving here? Have people found looking through history that previous commit messages are not useful/helpful somehow? Honest questions.
I especially find 3, 4, and 5 aren't solving problems, and unnecessarily OCD. 2 and even 6 I find overly restrictive. Are we reading commit messages on 1970s CRTs? :)
I think the most important guideline is to write messages that:
- help reviewers understand the what, why, and how.
- help our future selves when regressing through history.
Cheers,
--
____________________________________________________________
Sean McBride, B. Eng sean at rogue-research.com
Rogue Research www.rogue-research.com
Mac Software Developer Montréal, Québec, Canada
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