Reviewing History in a Git Repo

Lecture 6:- Reviewing History in a Git Repo

Reviewing the history in a Git repository is an essential part of understanding how a project has evolved over time. Git provides several commands and tools to explore the commit history and view changes made to files. Here are some common Git commands and tools for reviewing history:

git log: The git log command displays a chronological list of commits in the repository, starting with the most recent commit. By default, it shows information such as the commit hash, author, date, and commit message.

This command displays a compact list of commits. You can add options to customize the output, such as:

• --oneline: Displays each commit as a single line with only the commit hash and commit message.
• --graph: Shows the commit history as a text-based graph.
• --stat: Displays statistics about file changes in each commit.

git show: The git show command allows you to view the detailed changes introduced by a specific commit. It displays the commit information along with the diff of changes made to files in that commit.

Replace <commit-hash> with the hash of the commit you want to review. You can find the commit hash using git log.

git diff: The git diff command shows the differences between the working directory and the staging area or between different commits. It allows you to see the changes that have been made but are not yet staged.

git blame: The git blame command shows the author and the last modification date of each line in a file. It helps identify who made specific changes and when they were made.

git log with File Filter: You can review the history of a specific file using git log with the -- <file-name> option. This filters the log to show only commits that affected the specified file.

Git GUI Tools: Git also provides graphical user interface (GUI) tools that make it easier to review history visually. Some popular Git GUI tools include:

• GitKraken
• SourceTree
• GitHub Desktop

Remember that reviewing the history helps you understand the evolution of the project, track changes, and identify potential issues or improvements. Git's flexibility and powerful history exploration tools make it an invaluable asset for developers working on collaborative projects.

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git log -- <file-name>

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git blame <file-name>

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# Compare the working directory with the staging area git diff # Compare the staging area with the last commit git diff --staged # Compare two commits git diff <commit-hash1> <commit-hash2>

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git show <commit-hash>

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git log