From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Scott Chacon Subject: Re: Why is it important to learn git? Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:31:00 -0700 Message-ID: References: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Cc: git@vger.kernel.org To: Tim Harper X-From: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Wed Jul 22 20:31:16 2009 Return-path: Envelope-to: gcvg-git-2@gmane.org Received: from vger.kernel.org ([209.132.176.167]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.50) id 1MTgat-0001bm-F5 for gcvg-git-2@gmane.org; Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:31:11 +0200 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1751443AbZGVSbB convert rfc822-to-quoted-printable (ORCPT ); Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:31:01 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1751331AbZGVSbB (ORCPT ); Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:31:01 -0400 Received: from an-out-0708.google.com ([209.85.132.246]:28930 "EHLO an-out-0708.google.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1750938AbZGVSbA convert rfc822-to-8bit (ORCPT ); Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:31:00 -0400 Received: by an-out-0708.google.com with SMTP id d40so475680and.1 for ; Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:31:00 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:received:in-reply-to:references :date:message-id:subject:from:to:cc:content-type :content-transfer-encoding; bh=dYTMKvLzY1Y/lkWDhVZnMnW/yJhERjxwiWQuofHksh8=; b=s/PsslkYMEKZFa3ypOFxoKSfPuvGDforNejJ1wMsHSilfNXAaCnZWDRUXFXIUXcx/z VrdFyf2CltoCXaYJ1Cxckn6U5MYPVTnCZ9VGbn+cqS1AtgeSXOw3LQz8W7Qc1+b1io1B 6fc+bRjx3NUSoquKbks1pIj4RQUmVx0nNt85Q= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :cc:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; b=ua21KyP8ILfpkiPxLGwkIKC3eEDp4t2gO1A3WjbWtQTbSh4taU6LTPM5jflGxHUfSY fQS4qlmZo9wqh4cDwFXtLOaGsNLNpFFkrHjJJXk04PM3GIeQHNtBQoVHyvXT0odN/KpP Liqa9fan3TN+cViB2iBAs/InWi/UIug+hjqvk= Received: by 10.100.121.12 with SMTP id t12mr1636401anc.58.1248287460517; Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:31:00 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: Sender: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: git@vger.kernel.org Archived-At: Hey, On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 10:08 PM, Tim Harper wrot= e: > Hi all, > > I'm preparing to teach a workshop on git, and would like to know how > other people benefit from the advanced features of git. =C2=A0So, if = you're > feeling kind enough to share a few minutes to respond (which I will > receive with gratitude): > > How has mastering the advanced features of git helped you to be a > better programmer? I think the biggest gain Git gives many developers over other VCSs (even other DVCSs) is the lightweight branching flexibility and easy merging. In Git, lightweight branches or topic branches are used in much the same way that patch queuing tools like Hg's mq extension or quilt, but I think most users find them much, much easier to use and understand and often less error prone. Using branches as silos dedicated to a single work topic and being able to easily keep them separated until you are ready to apply them to a main line of work (such as merging with your master branch) is very powerful and is done via a very simple and understandable existing paradigm of branches rather than trying to learn a whole new command set of patching. This allows for fast and simple context switching and work unit isolation that both very definitively changes most developers workflows in ways that were completely impossible in SVN or Perforce or what-have-you. Hope that helps. If you need any material for your workshop, I have a number of slides (Keynote and PDF) for presentations I have given at: http://github.com/schacon/git-presentations You can also get the PDF of the slides of the tutorial I gave at OSCON yesterday on Git here: http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/schedule/detail/7953 Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help. Thanks, Scott