5 ms·

Magit: a Git porcelain inside emacs

97 points by zvrba 11y ago

i_s 11y ago
This is one of emacs' killer apps. I know some people (myself included) who use sometimes emacs just for this, even if we have to use Xcode or another tool to actually write the code.
tokenrove 11y ago
Just to list one killer feature: instant fixup. Apply your staged changes as a fixup to any earlier commit, doing all the steps of stashing and rebasing for you. Also, makes partial staging so easy, and applying individual hunks from, say, a stash.
craigching 11y ago
I used to be a hard-core command line only (no fancy shmancy UIs here GitX!) git user. I have also been an emacs user for 23 years. Since I discovered Magit I will not touch command line git anymore. It's that good. Single key-press for all major features, easily add arguments the same way, and q quits any temp buffer for viewing. Diffs and reviewing history is a breeze. It's exactly what I would expect git + emacs to be. If you haven't tried it, do so and give it some time. There is a cheat sheet here: http://daemianmack.com/magit-cheatsheet.html http://daemianmack.com/magit-cheatsheet.html That should get you well on your way to using Magit.
fastflo 11y ago
just gave it a try: i love it!
tptacek 11y ago
This might be the best user interface available to Git anywhere. It doesn't just make git easier, or more intuitive, but also makes you a more effective git user. Highly recommended. I'm curious though if there are many Emacs users who don't know about magit already.
- tmalsburg2 11y ago
  Most Emacsers know magit, but many git users may not have considered to use Emacs.
- johanvts 11y ago
  I used Emacs and Git for years before hearing about Magit, never occurred to me that I needed something like that. I was wrong.
GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
Is this the interface that Stallman wanted to modify to eliminate the difference between "add" and "commit"?
- jordigh 11y ago
  No, he was talking about vc-mode, which tries to abstract away all of the underlying VCS to make it all look like CVS or Subversion. Honestly, rms had a poing there, because vc-mode really should make git look like a centralised VCS.
  - GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
    Oh right, here's the thread: https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2015-03/msg00609.html https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2015-03/msg00...
wcummings 11y ago
Magit is the best git ui out there, more powerful than the git command client w/o getting in your way.
brudgers 11y ago
I try to avoid it, but I keep thinking of Emacs as "an app store" for developers. For a product or service or tool targeted at programmers, it is hard to think of a better combination of ease of delivery, a highly correlated demographic, and narrow focus.
- teddyh 11y ago
  Emacs has a packaging system with repositories. http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs?action=browse;id=MarmaladeRepo http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs?action=browse;id=MarmaladeRep...
  - brudgers 11y ago
    I agree. I was thinking more about "Emacs lifestyle" utilities like SX [1] as very similar to StackExchange's Android app. [2] Sure it's actually a repository, but a language community without an Emacs mode may not meet a significant segment of developers. [1]: http://stackapps.com/questions/3950/sx-stack-exchange-for-emacs http://stackapps.com/questions/3950/sx-stack-exchange-for-em... [2]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stackexchange.marvin&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stackexcha...

97 points by zvrba 11y ago

i_s 11y ago

This is one of emacs' killer apps. I know some people (myself included) who use sometimes emacs just for this, even if we have to use Xcode or another tool to actually write the code.

tokenrove 11y ago

Just to list one killer feature: instant fixup. Apply your staged changes as a fixup to any earlier commit, doing all the steps of stashing and rebasing for you. Also, makes partial staging so easy, and applying individual hunks from, say, a stash.

craigching 11y ago

I used to be a hard-core command line only (no fancy shmancy UIs here GitX!) git user. I have also been an emacs user for 23 years. Since I discovered Magit I will not touch command line git anymore. It's that good. Single key-press for all major features, easily add arguments the same way, and q quits any temp buffer for viewing. Diffs and reviewing history is a breeze. It's exactly what I would expect git + emacs to be. If you haven't tried it, do so and give it some time. There is a cheat sheet here: http://daemianmack.com/magit-cheatsheet.html http://daemianmack.com/magit-cheatsheet.html That should get you well on your way to using Magit.

fastflo 11y ago

just gave it a try: i love it!

tptacek 11y ago

This might be the best user interface available to Git anywhere. It doesn't just make git easier, or more intuitive, but also makes you a more effective git user. Highly recommended. I'm curious though if there are many Emacs users who don't know about magit already.

tmalsburg2 11y ago
Most Emacsers know magit, but many git users may not have considered to use Emacs.
johanvts 11y ago
I used Emacs and Git for years before hearing about Magit, never occurred to me that I needed something like that. I was wrong.

GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago

Is this the interface that Stallman wanted to modify to eliminate the difference between "add" and "commit"?

jordigh 11y ago
No, he was talking about vc-mode, which tries to abstract away all of the underlying VCS to make it all look like CVS or Subversion. Honestly, rms had a poing there, because vc-mode really should make git look like a centralised VCS.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
  Oh right, here's the thread: https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2015-03/msg00609.html https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2015-03/msg00...

wcummings 11y ago

Magit is the best git ui out there, more powerful than the git command client w/o getting in your way.

brudgers 11y ago

I try to avoid it, but I keep thinking of Emacs as "an app store" for developers. For a product or service or tool targeted at programmers, it is hard to think of a better combination of ease of delivery, a highly correlated demographic, and narrow focus.

teddyh 11y ago
Emacs has a packaging system with repositories. http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs?action=browse;id=MarmaladeRepo http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs?action=browse;id=MarmaladeRep...
- brudgers 11y ago
  I agree. I was thinking more about "Emacs lifestyle" utilities like SX [1] as very similar to StackExchange's Android app. [2] Sure it's actually a repository, but a language community without an Emacs mode may not meet a significant segment of developers. [1]: http://stackapps.com/questions/3950/sx-stack-exchange-for-emacs http://stackapps.com/questions/3950/sx-stack-exchange-for-em... [2]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stackexchange.marvin&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stackexcha...