Git Commit

Since we’ve completed our work, we’re ready to move from staging to committing our changes.

Commits help track our progress and changes over time, serving as checkpoints or “save points” in the project. They allow you to return to a specific state if you encounter a bug or need to make adjustments.

When making a commit, always include a message.

Clear commit messages make it easier for you and others to understand what changes were made and when.

Example

[user@localhost] $

git commit -m "First release of Hello
  World!"
[master (root-commit)  221ec6e] First release of Hello World!
 3 files changed, 26 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 README.md
 create mode 100644 bluestyle.css
 create mode 100644 index.html

The commit command finalizes the commit, and the -m “message” option adds a descriptive message.

The staging environment has been committed to our repository with the message:

“First release of Hello World!”

Git Commit without Stage

Sometimes, for minor changes, using the staging environment can feel like an extra step. You can skip staging by committing changes directly using the -a option, which automatically stages all modified, already tracked files.

Let’s make a small update to index.html:

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Hello World!</title>
<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”bluestyle.css”>
</head>
<body>

<h1>Hello world!</h1>
<p>This is the first file in my new Git Repo.</p>
<p>A new line in our file!</p>

</body>
</html>

And check the status of our repository. This time, we’ll use the –short option to view the changes in a more concise format.

Example

[user@localhost] $

git status --short
 M index.html

Note: The short status flags are:

?? – Untracked files
A – Files added to the staging area
M – Modified files
D – Deleted files

We see that the file we expected is modified. Let’s commit it directly.

Example

[user@localhost] $

git commit -a -m “Updated index.html with a new line”
[master 09f4acd] Updated index.html with a new line
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)

Warning: Skipping the staging environment is generally not recommended.

By bypassing the staging step, you might unintentionally include unwanted changes in your commit.

Git Commit Log

To see the commit history for a repository, use the log command:

Example

[user@localhost] $

git log
commit 09f4acd3f8836b7f6fc44ad9e012f82faf861803 (HEAD -> master)
Author: code7school-test
Date: Fri Mar 26 09:35:54 2021 +0100

Updated index.html with a new line

commit 221ec6e10aeedbfd02b85264087cd9adc18e4b26
Author: code7school-test
Date: Fri Mar 26 09:13:07 2021 +0100

First release of Hello World!