Git Committing Good commit messages
Example
It is important for someone traversing through the git log to easily understand what each commit was all about. Good commit messages usually include a number of a task or an issue in a tracker and a concise description of what has been done and why, and sometimes also how it has been done.
Better messages may look like:
TASK-123: Implement login through OAuth
TASK-124: Add auto minification of JS/CSS files
TASK-125: Fix minifier error when name > 200 chars
Whereas the following messages would not be quite as useful:
fix // What has been fixed?
just a bit of a change // What has changed?
TASK-371 // No description at all, reader will need to look at the tracker themselves for an explanation
Implemented IFoo in IBar // Why it was needed?
A way to test if a commit message is written in the correct mood is to replace the blank with the message and see if it makes sense:
If I add this commit, I will ___ to my repository.
The seven rules of a great git commit message
- Separate the subject line from body with a blank line
- Limit the subject line to 50 characters
- Capitalize the subject line
- Do not end the subject line with a period
- Use the imperative mood in the subject line
- Manually wrap each line of the body at 72 characters
- Use the body to explain what and why instead of how
7 rules from Chris Beam's blog.
