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Git checkout also switches branches. "Checkout" sounds pretty safe, and svn has a checkout command (Which doesn't do anything but print an error message if you'

Git checkout also switches branches. "Checkout" sounds pretty safe, and svn has a checkout command (Which doesn't do anything but print an error message if you're in a working directory. It's the equivalent of git clone.). Finally, in most commands, git is paranoid about not destroying your changes. Combine all of these and you're in for a nasty surprise.

thenduks 16y ago
It's still being paranoid. You shouldn't be checking out anything while you have working copy changes unless you really, really mean to. This is why it's not a big deal that it's named the same. Also, git defaults to working on a branch if the names conflict. If I have branch 'foo' and file 'foo' (both terrible names for files and branches) and try: `git checkout foo` it will switch to the foo branch and not checkout the file. Why would you ever do this with working copy changes except in very rare circumstances? In short, I'm suggesting that if you have working copy changes then `checkout` means "restore this file to it's state in the index" and if you don't have working copy changes then it means "switch to this branch". Since you always know if you have working copy changes or not, this is a pretty easy distinction to make.
- phaylon 16y ago
  That's not being paranoid, that's depending on me being paranoid. People make mistakes, and a clearer separation of these two functions would make it harder to make this mistake.
  - thenduks 16y ago
    I don't really want my tool to be the kind of paranoid you're describing. I know what I'm doing, I've never lost changes like that, and I don't want git acting like it knows better. The commands are semantically correct, you just need to use them in conjunction with your brain.
    - phaylon 16y ago
      Er, first, if you'd like to call me stupid, please do so openly. Personally, I like safety-features on tools. You know that feature that stops rotating blades when they come into contact with fingers? Would "just don't touch the blade" have been an equal solution to you?
      - thenduks 16y ago
        I didn't mean to imply you personally are stupid. Just that 'one' wanting to use git should effectively concede that it gives you the tools to cut off your hands if that's what you're aiming to do. So as to your next point, I don't think that's a very good analogy. If the rotating blades are meant to be used to amputate limbs and to cut logs in half - then yes, I'd say if you are trying to cut a log in half you shouldn't put your arm in it.
        phaylon 16y ago
        "I didn't mean to imply you personally are stupid." You implied I wasn't using my brain when using git. What did you want to imply with that if not stupidity? "Just that 'one' wanting to use git should effectively concede that it gives you the tools to cut off your hands if that's what you're aiming to do." Not sure I get that. I need to use git, so it's my fault? The thing about a mistake is that I wasn't aiming to do it. "If the rotating blades are meant to be used to amputate limbs and to cut logs in half - then yes, I'd say if you are trying to cut a log in half you shouldn't put your arm in it." Who would build such a thing? And even further, who would build a machine with 100 buttons, two of which look exactly the same, but one cuts wood, one cuts of your arm. What is to gain by having a destructive file operation and a non-destructive branch operation have the same name? Why do people seem to feel hurt when people suggest to name them separately?
        thenduks 16y ago
        What is to gain by having a destructive file operation and a non-destructive branch operation have the same name? Why do people seem to feel hurt when people suggest to name them separately? Because they are both the semantically correct name for the operation. Check out a file, overwriting my local unstaged changes. Or checkout an entirely new working copy from the point referred to by a branch. I don't feel hurt that you suggest it, though. In fact I mentioned in another comment that I always thought `git branch` could do the switching itself rather than checkout... I just don't think it's a problem. I know I'm working with a file or a branch, so I just know what will happen. It doesn't matter that the name is the same since it's function depends on context.

thenduks 16y ago

It's still being paranoid. You shouldn't be checking out anything while you have working copy changes unless you really, really mean to. This is why it's not a big deal that it's named the same. Also, git defaults to working on a branch if the names conflict. If I have branch 'foo' and file 'foo' (both terrible names for files and branches) and try: `git checkout foo` it will switch to the foo branch and not checkout the file. Why would you ever do this with working copy changes except in very rare circumstances? In short, I'm suggesting that if you have working copy changes then `checkout` means "restore this file to it's state in the index" and if you don't have working copy changes then it means "switch to this branch". Since you always know if you have working copy changes or not, this is a pretty easy distinction to make.

phaylon 16y ago
That's not being paranoid, that's depending on me being paranoid. People make mistakes, and a clearer separation of these two functions would make it harder to make this mistake.
- thenduks 16y ago
  I don't really want my tool to be the kind of paranoid you're describing. I know what I'm doing, I've never lost changes like that, and I don't want git acting like it knows better. The commands are semantically correct, you just need to use them in conjunction with your brain.
  - phaylon 16y ago
    Er, first, if you'd like to call me stupid, please do so openly. Personally, I like safety-features on tools. You know that feature that stops rotating blades when they come into contact with fingers? Would "just don't touch the blade" have been an equal solution to you?
    - thenduks 16y ago
      I didn't mean to imply you personally are stupid. Just that 'one' wanting to use git should effectively concede that it gives you the tools to cut off your hands if that's what you're aiming to do. So as to your next point, I don't think that's a very good analogy. If the rotating blades are meant to be used to amputate limbs and to cut logs in half - then yes, I'd say if you are trying to cut a log in half you shouldn't put your arm in it.
      - phaylon 16y ago
        "I didn't mean to imply you personally are stupid." You implied I wasn't using my brain when using git. What did you want to imply with that if not stupidity? "Just that 'one' wanting to use git should effectively concede that it gives you the tools to cut off your hands if that's what you're aiming to do." Not sure I get that. I need to use git, so it's my fault? The thing about a mistake is that I wasn't aiming to do it. "If the rotating blades are meant to be used to amputate limbs and to cut logs in half - then yes, I'd say if you are trying to cut a log in half you shouldn't put your arm in it." Who would build such a thing? And even further, who would build a machine with 100 buttons, two of which look exactly the same, but one cuts wood, one cuts of your arm. What is to gain by having a destructive file operation and a non-destructive branch operation have the same name? Why do people seem to feel hurt when people suggest to name them separately?
        thenduks 16y ago
        What is to gain by having a destructive file operation and a non-destructive branch operation have the same name? Why do people seem to feel hurt when people suggest to name them separately? Because they are both the semantically correct name for the operation. Check out a file, overwriting my local unstaged changes. Or checkout an entirely new working copy from the point referred to by a branch. I don't feel hurt that you suggest it, though. In fact I mentioned in another comment that I always thought `git branch` could do the switching itself rather than checkout... I just don't think it's a problem. I know I'm working with a file or a branch, so I just know what will happen. It doesn't matter that the name is the same since it's function depends on context.