Git Best Practices

40 min

Write clear, descriptive commit messages that explain what and why, not how. Good commit messages help others (and future you) understand changes. The first line should be a concise summary (50 characters or less), followed by a blank line and detailed explanation if needed. Commit messages are documentation—they tell the story of your project. Understanding commit message best practices enables maintainable project history. Good commit messages are essential for collaboration.

Use conventional commit format: `type(scope): description` (e.g., `feat(auth): add user login`). Types include feat (new feature), fix (bug fix), docs (documentation), style (formatting), refactor (code restructuring), test (tests), and chore (maintenance). Scopes are optional and specify what area changed. Understanding conventional commits enables standardized, parseable commit messages. Conventional commits enable automated changelog generation.

Keep commits atomic and focused on a single change or feature, making history easier to understand and enabling selective reverting. Atomic commits are small, logical units of change. They're easier to review, understand, and debug. Large commits mixing multiple changes are hard to understand and revert. Understanding atomic commits enables clean project history. Atomic commits are a hallmark of good Git practice.

Use meaningful branch names that describe the purpose (e.g., `feature/user-dashboard`, `bugfix/login-error`, `hotfix/security-patch`). Good branch names communicate intent and make repository navigation easier. Prefixes like `feature/`, `bugfix/`, `hotfix/` organize branches by type. Understanding branch naming enables organized repositories. Meaningful names help teams coordinate.

Regularly pull from the remote to stay up-to-date with team changes, reducing merge conflicts and keeping your work current. Frequent pulls integrate team changes early, making merges easier. Pulling regularly prevents large, difficult merges. Understanding pull frequency enables smooth collaboration. Regular pulls are essential for team coordination.

Review your changes with `git diff` before committing, ensuring you're committing what you intend. Diff shows exactly what changed, helping you catch mistakes, debug issues, and write accurate commit messages. Understanding diff enables informed commits. Reviewing changes is essential for quality. Best practices also include committing often with small, logical changes, writing meaningful commit messages, using branches for features, and keeping main branch stable. Understanding Git best practices enables professional development workflows.

Key Concepts

Write clear, descriptive commit messages explaining what and why.
Use conventional commit format for standardized messages.
Keep commits atomic and focused on single changes.
Use meaningful branch names that describe purpose.
Review changes with git diff before committing.

Learning Objectives

Master

Writing clear, descriptive commit messages
Using conventional commit format
Creating atomic, focused commits
Following Git best practices for collaboration

Develop

Understanding professional Git practices
Maintaining clean, understandable project history
Collaborating effectively with Git

Tips

Write commit messages that explain why, not just what.
Use conventional commit format for consistency.
Make small, atomic commits rather than large ones.
Review changes with git diff before committing.

Common Pitfalls

Writing vague commit messages like 'fix' or 'update'.
Making large commits mixing multiple unrelated changes.
Not reviewing changes before committing.
Not following team conventions, causing confusion.

Summary

Clear commit messages and atomic commits improve project history.
Conventional commit format enables standardization.
Meaningful branch names help team coordination.
Following Git best practices enables effective collaboration.
Best practices make Git workflows professional and maintainable.

Exercise

Practice writing good commit messages and creating atomic commits.

# Good commit message examples:
git commit -m "feat(auth): implement OAuth2 authentication"
git commit -m "fix(api): resolve user data retrieval timeout"
git commit -m "docs(readme): update installation instructions"
git commit -m "refactor(utils): extract common validation logic"
git commit -m "test(auth): add unit tests for login validation"

# Bad commit message examples (avoid these):
git commit -m "fixed stuff"
git commit -m "wip"
git commit -m "updates"

Git Best Practices