{"id":352475,"date":"2021-09-30T07:29:36","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T14:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/?p=352475"},"modified":"2021-12-03T07:46:50","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T15:46:50","slug":"creating-the-perfect-commit-in-git","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/creating-the-perfect-commit-in-git\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating the Perfect Commit in Git"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"is-style-explanation\">This article is part of our \u201cAdvanced Git\u201d series. Be sure to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gittower\" rel=\"noopener\">follow Tower on Twitter<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.git-tower.com\/newsletter\" rel=\"noopener\">sign up for the Tower newsletter<\/a> to hear about the next articles!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A commit in Git can be one of two things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>It can be a jumbled assortment of changes from all sorts of topics: some lines of code for a bugfix, a stab at rewriting an old module, and a couple of new files for a brand new feature.<\/li><li>Or, with a little bit of care, it can be something that helps us stay on top of things. It can be a container for related changes that belong to one and only one topic, and thereby make it easier for us to understand what happened.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In this post, we\u2019re talking about what it takes to produce the latter type of commit or, in other words: the \u201cperfect\u201d commit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group ticss-c35bb282\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-advanced-git-series\">Advanced Git series:<\/h4>\n\n\n<ol><li><strong>Part 1:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/creating-the-perfect-commit-in-git\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/creating-the-perfect-commit-in-git\/\">Creating the Perfect Commit in Git<\/a> (<em>You are here!<\/em>)<\/li><li><strong>Part 2:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/branching-strategies-in-git\/\">Branching Strategies in Git<\/a><\/li><li><strong>Part 3:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/better-collaboration-with-pull-requests\/\">Better Collaboration With Pull Requests<\/a><\/li><li><strong>Part 4:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/merge-conflicts-what-they-are-and-how-to-deal-with-them\">Merge Conflicts<\/a><\/li><li><strong>Part 5:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/rebase-vs-merge-integrating-changes-in-git\">Rebase vs. Merge<\/a><\/li><li><strong>Part 6:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/interactive-rebase-clean-up-your-commit-history\">Interactive Rebase<\/a><\/li><li><strong>Part 7:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/cherry-picking-commits-in-git\">Cherry-Picking Commits in Git<\/a><\/li><li><strong>Part 8:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/using-the-reflog-to-restore-lost-commits\/\">Using the Reflog to Restore Lost Commits<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-why-clean-and-granular-commits-matter\">Why clean and granular commits matter<\/h3>\n\n\n<p>Is it really necessary to compose commits in a careful, thoughtful way? Can\u2019t we just treat Git as a boring backup system? Let\u2019s revisit our example from above one more time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we follow the first path \u2013 where we just cram changes into commits whenever they happen \u2013 commits lose much of their value. The separation between one commit and the next becomes arbitrary: there seems to be no reason why changes were put into one and not the other commit. Looking at these commits later, e.g. when your colleagues try to make sense of what happened in that revision, is like going through the \u201ceverything drawer\u201d that every household has: there\u2019s everything in here that found no place elsewhere, from crayons to thumbtacks and cash slips. It\u2019s terribly hard to find something in these drawers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"588\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/bad-commits-1024x588-1.png?resize=1024%2C588&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-352477\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/bad-commits-1024x588-1.png?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/bad-commits-1024x588-1.png?resize=300%2C172&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/bad-commits-1024x588-1.png?resize=768%2C441&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/bad-commits-1024x588-1.png?resize=1000%2C574&amp;ssl=1 1000w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 735px) 864px, 96vw\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the second path \u2013 where we put only things (read: changes) that belong together into the same commit \u2013 requires a bit more planning and discipline. But in the end, you and your team are rewarded with something very valuable: a clean commit history! These commits help you understand what happened. They help explain the complex changes that were made in a digestible manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1072\" height=\"601\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/better-commits.png?resize=1072%2C601&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-352478\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/better-commits.png?w=1072&amp;ssl=1 1072w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/better-commits.png?resize=300%2C168&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/better-commits.png?resize=1024%2C574&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/better-commits.png?resize=768%2C431&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/better-commits.png?resize=1000%2C561&amp;ssl=1 1000w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 735px) 864px, 96vw\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>How do we go about creating better commits?<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-composing-better-commits\">Composing better commits<\/h3>\n\n\n<p>One concept is central to composing better commits in Git: the<strong> Staging Area<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Staging Area was made exactly for this purpose: to allow developers to select changes \u2013 in a very granular way \u2013 that should be part of the next commit. And, unlike other version control systems, Git forces you to make use of this Staging Area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, however, it\u2019s still easy to ignore the tidying effect of the Staging Area: a simple <code>git add .<\/code> will take <em>all<\/em> of our current local changes and mark them for the next commit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s true that this can be a very helpful and valid approach sometimes. But many times, we would be better off stopping for a second and deciding if really <em>all<\/em> of our changes are <em>actually<\/em> about the same topic. Or if two or three separate commits might be a much better choice.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In most cases, it makes a lot of sense to keep commits rather smaller than larger. Focused on an individual topic (instead of two, three, or four), they tend to be much more readable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Staging Area allows us to carefully pick each change that should go into the next commit:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre rel=\"Terminal\" class=\"wp-block-csstricks-code-block language-none\" data-line=\"\"><code markup=\"tt\">$ git add file1.ext file2.ext<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>This will only mark these two files for the next commit and leave the other changes for a future commit or further edits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This simple act of pausing and <em>deliberately choosing<\/em> what should make it into the next commit goes a long way. But we can get even more precise than that. Because sometimes, even the changes in a <em>single file<\/em> belong to multiple topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s look at a real-life example and take a look at the exact changes in our &#8220;index.html&#8221;  file. We can either use the &#8220;git diff&#8221; command or a Git desktop GUI like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.git-tower.com\/?utm_source=csstricks&amp;utm_medium=guestpost&amp;utm_campaign=the-perfect-commit\" rel=\"noopener\">Tower<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1820\" height=\"1170\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/03_current-changes.png?resize=1820%2C1170&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-352479\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/03_current-changes.png?w=1820&amp;ssl=1 1820w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/03_current-changes.png?resize=300%2C193&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/03_current-changes.png?resize=1024%2C658&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/03_current-changes.png?resize=768%2C494&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/03_current-changes.png?resize=1536%2C987&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/03_current-changes.png?resize=1000%2C643&amp;ssl=1 1000w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 735px) 864px, 96vw\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, we can add the <code>-p<\/code> option to <code>git add<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre rel=\"Terminal\" class=\"wp-block-csstricks-code-block language-none\" data-line=\"\"><code markup=\"tt\">$ git add -p index.html<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re instructing Git to go through this file on a \u201cpatch\u201d level: Git takes us by the hand and walks us through all of the changes in this file. And it asks us, for each chunk, if we want to add it to the Staging Area or not:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1848\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/git-add-p.png?resize=1848%2C1334&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-352480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/git-add-p.png?w=1848&amp;ssl=1 1848w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/git-add-p.png?resize=300%2C217&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/git-add-p.png?resize=1024%2C739&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/git-add-p.png?resize=768%2C554&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/git-add-p.png?resize=1536%2C1109&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/git-add-p.png?resize=1000%2C722&amp;ssl=1 1000w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 735px) 864px, 96vw\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By typing <code>[Y]<\/code> (for \u201cyes\u201d) for the first chunk and <code>[N]<\/code> (for \u201cno\u201d) for the second chunk, we can include the <em>first<\/em> part of our changes in this file in the next commit, but leave the other changes for a later time or more edits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The result? A more granular, more precise commit that\u2019s focused on a single topic.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-testing-your-code\">Testing your code<\/h3>\n\n\n<p>Since we\u2019re talking about \u201cthe perfect commit\u201d here, we cannot ignore the topic of testing. How exactly you \u201ctest\u201d your code can certainly vary, but the notion that tests are important isn\u2019t new. In fact, many teams refuse to consider a piece of code completed if it\u2019s not properly tested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re still on the fence about whether you should test your code or not, let\u2019s debunk a couple of myths about testing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>\u201cTests are overrated\u201d<\/strong>: The fact is that tests help you find bugs more quickly. Most importantly, they help you find them before something goes into production \u2013 which is when mistakes hurt the most. And finding bugs <em>early<\/em> is, without exaggeration, priceless!<\/li><li><strong>\u201cTests cost valuable time\u201d<\/strong>: After some time you will find that well-written tests make you write code faster. You waste less time hunting bugs and find that, more often, a well-structured test primes your thinking for the actual implementation, too.<\/li><li><strong>\u201cTesting is complicated\u201d<\/strong>: While this might have been an argument a couple of years ago, this is now untrue. Most professional programming frameworks and languages come with extensive support for setting up, writing, and managing tests.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>All in all, adding tests to your development habits is almost guaranteed to make your code base more robust. And, at the same time, they help you become a better programmer.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-valuable-commit-message\">A valuable commit message<\/h3>\n\n\n<p>Version control with Git is not a fancy way of backing up your code. And, as we\u2019ve already discussed, commits are not a dump of arbitrary changes. Commits exist to help you and your teammates understand what happened in a project. And a good commit message goes a long way to ensure this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But what makes a good commit message?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>A brief and concise subject line that summarizes the changes<\/li><li>A descriptive message body that explains the most important facts (and as concisely as possible)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s start with the subject line: the goal is to get a brief summary of what happened. <em>Brevity<\/em>, of course, is a relative term; but the general rule of thumb is to (ideally) keep the subject under 50 characters. By the way, if you find yourself struggling to come up with something brief, this might be an indicator that the commit tackles too many topics! It could be worthwhile to take another look and see if you have to split it into multiple, separate ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you close the subject with a line break and an additional empty line, Git understands that the following text is the message\u2019s \u201cbody.\u201d Here, you have more space to describe what happened. It helps to keep the following questions in mind, which your body text should aim to answer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>What changed in your project with this commit?<\/li><li>What was the reason for making this change?<\/li><li>Is there anything special to watch out for? Anything someone else should know about these changes?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you keep these questions in mind when writing your commit message body, you are very likely to produce a helpful description of what happened. And this, ultimately, benefits your colleagues (and after some time: you) when trying to understand this commit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On top of the rules I just described about the <em>content<\/em> of commit messages, many teams also care about the <em>format<\/em>: agreeing on character limits, soft or hard line wraps, etc. all help to produce better commits within a team.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To make it easier to stick by such rules, we recently added some features to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.git-tower.com\/?utm_source=csstricks&amp;utm_medium=guestpost&amp;utm_campaign=the-perfect-commit\" rel=\"noopener\">Tower, the Git desktop GUI<\/a> that we make: you can now, for example, configure character counts or automatic line wraps just as you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"584\" height=\"532\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/tower-commit-message-composing.gif?resize=584%2C532&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-352481\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-great-codebase-consists-of-great-commits\">A great codebase consists of great commits<\/h3>\n\n\n<p>Any developer will admit that they want a great code base. But there\u2019s only one way to achieve this lofty goal: by consistently producing great commits! I hope I was able to demonstrate that (a) it\u2019s absolutely worth pursuing this goal and (b) it\u2019s not <em>that<\/em> hard to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to dive deeper into advanced Git tools, feel free to check out my (free!) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.git-tower.com\/learn\/git\/advanced-git-kit?utm_source=csstricks&amp;utm_medium=guestpost&amp;utm_campaign=the-perfect-commit\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cAdvanced Git Kit\u201d<\/a>: it\u2019s a collection of short videos about topics like branching strategies, Interactive Rebase, Reflog, Submodules and much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have fun creating awesome commits!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group ticss-c35bb282\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-advanced-git-series-1\">Advanced Git series:<\/h4>\n\n\n<ol><li><strong>Part 1:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/creating-the-perfect-commit-in-git\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/creating-the-perfect-commit-in-git\/\">Creating the Perfect Commit in Git<\/a> (<em>You are here!<\/em>)<\/li><li><strong>Part 2:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/branching-strategies-in-git\/\">Branching Strategies in Git<\/a><\/li><li><strong>Part 3:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/better-collaboration-with-pull-requests\/\">Better Collaboration With Pull Requests<\/a><\/li><li><strong>Part 4:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/merge-conflicts-what-they-are-and-how-to-deal-with-them\">Merge Conflicts<\/a><\/li><li><strong>Part 5:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/rebase-vs-merge-integrating-changes-in-git\">Rebase vs. Merge<\/a><\/li><li><strong>Part 6:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/interactive-rebase-clean-up-your-commit-history\">Interactive Rebase<\/a><\/li><li><strong>Part 7:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/cherry-picking-commits-in-git\">Cherry-Picking Commits in Git<\/a><\/li><li><strong>Part 8:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/using-the-reflog-to-restore-lost-commits\/\">Using the Reflog to Restore Lost Commits<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A commit can be something that helps us stay on top of things. It can be a container for related changes that belong to one and only one topic, and thereby make it easier for us to understand what happened.<\/p>\n<p>In this post, we\u2019re talking about what it takes to produce the &#8220;perfect&#8221; commit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":247217,"featured_media":352478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"sig_custom_text":"","sig_image_type":"featured-image","sig_custom_image":0,"sig_is_disabled":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"c2c_always_allow_admin_comments":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"First article in an ongoing series by @gntr on using Git: Creating the Perfect Commit","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[4],"tags":[767,766,1038],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/better-commits.png?fit=1072%2C601&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":356700,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/cherry-picking-commits-in-git\/","url_meta":{"origin":352475,"position":0},"title":"Cherry-Picking Commits in Git","date":"November 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"In part 5 of this series, we looked at rebasing and merging. Although there are a couple of differences between git merge and git rebase, both commands have the same goal: they integrate changes from one branch into another.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/git-cherry-picking.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":357728,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/using-the-reflog-to-restore-lost-commits\/","url_meta":{"origin":352475,"position":1},"title":"Using the Reflog to Restore Lost Commits","date":"November 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"This article is part of our \u201cAdvanced Git\u201d series. Be sure to follow us on Twitter or sign up for our newsletter to hear about future articles! The \u201cReflog\u201d is one of Git\u2019s lesser-known features\u2014but one that can be extremely helpful. Some people refer to it as a \u201csafety net,\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/pasted-image-0-2.png?fit=1200%2C438&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":281934,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/the-smart-ways-to-correct-mistakes-in-git\/","url_meta":{"origin":352475,"position":2},"title":"The Smart Ways to Correct Mistakes in Git","date":"February 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The world of software development offers an infinite amount of ways to mess up: deleting the wrong things, coding into dead ends, littering commit messages with typos, are a mere few of the plentitude. \u200b\u200b \u200b\u200bFortunately, however, we have a wonderful safety net under our feet in the form of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/git-pattern.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":355658,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/interactive-rebase-clean-up-your-commit-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":352475,"position":3},"title":"Interactive Rebase: Clean up your Commit History","date":"November 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Interactive Rebase is the Swiss Army knife of Git commands: lots of use cases and lots of possibilities! It's really a great addition to any developer's tool chain, because it lets you revise your local commit history\u2014before you share your work with the rest of the team. Let's see what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/interactive-rebase_reword_CLI.gif?fit=700%2C370&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":175076,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/sponsored-tower-2-0-make-git-easy\/","url_meta":{"origin":352475,"position":4},"title":"Tower 2.0 is Here &#8211; To Make Git Easy!","date":"July 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Most people wouldn't call version control their hobby. But in the last few years, people have also become aware of how valuable it is. Nowadays, you won't find a top programmer, web developer, or web designer who doesn't use version control. In part because it helps you produce better results\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":360998,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/git-switching-unstaged-changes-to-a-new-branch\/","url_meta":{"origin":352475,"position":5},"title":"Git: Switching Unstaged Changes to a New Branch","date":"January 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm always on the wrong branch. I'm either on master or main working on something that should be on a fix or feature branch. Or I'm on the last branch I was working on and should have cut a new branch. Oh well. It's never that big of a deal.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/git-switch.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"featured_media_src_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/better-commits.png?fit=1024%2C574&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352475"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/247217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352475"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":358346,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352475\/revisions\/358346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}