-Checklist (and a short version for the impatient):
-
- Commits:
-
- - make commits of logical units
- - check for unnecessary whitespace with "git diff --check"
- before committing
- - do not check in commented out code or unneeded files
- - the first line of the commit message should be a short
- description (50 characters is the soft limit, see DISCUSSION
- in git-commit(1)), and should skip the full stop
- - it is also conventional in most cases to prefix the
- first line with "area: " where the area is a filename
- or identifier for the general area of the code being
- modified, e.g.
- . archive: ustar header checksum is computed unsigned
- . git-cherry-pick.txt: clarify the use of revision range notation
- (if in doubt which identifier to use, run "git log --no-merges"
- on the files you are modifying to see the current conventions)
- - the body should provide a meaningful commit message, which:
- . explains the problem the change tries to solve, iow, what
- is wrong with the current code without the change.
- . justifies the way the change solves the problem, iow, why
- the result with the change is better.
- . alternate solutions considered but discarded, if any.
- - describe changes in imperative mood, e.g. "make xyzzy do frotz"
- instead of "[This patch] makes xyzzy do frotz" or "[I] changed
- xyzzy to do frotz", as if you are giving orders to the codebase
- to change its behaviour.
- - try to make sure your explanation can be understood without
- external resources. Instead of giving a URL to a mailing list
- archive, summarize the relevant points of the discussion.
- - add a "Signed-off-by: Your Name <you@example.com>" line to the
- commit message (or just use the option "-s" when committing)
- to confirm that you agree to the Developer's Certificate of Origin
- - make sure that you have tests for the bug you are fixing
- - make sure that the test suite passes after your commit
-
- Patch:
-
- - use "git format-patch -M" to create the patch
- - do not PGP sign your patch
- - do not attach your patch, but read in the mail
- body, unless you cannot teach your mailer to
- leave the formatting of the patch alone.
- - be careful doing cut & paste into your mailer, not to
- corrupt whitespaces.
- - provide additional information (which is unsuitable for
- the commit message) between the "---" and the diffstat
- - if you change, add, or remove a command line option or
- make some other user interface change, the associated
- documentation should be updated as well.
- - if your name is not writable in ASCII, make sure that
- you send off a message in the correct encoding.
- - send the patch to the list (git@vger.kernel.org) and the
- maintainer (gitster@pobox.com) if (and only if) the patch
- is ready for inclusion. If you use git-send-email(1),
- please test it first by sending email to yourself.
- - see below for instructions specific to your mailer
-
-Long version:
-