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Got requires a mental model. I've tried to teach git without the mental model and it just doesn't work. There's a whole pack of people on the internet who refus

by kodah 4y ago

Got requires a mental model. I've tried to teach git without the mental model and it just doesn't work. There's a whole pack of people on the internet who refuse to learn the internals and complain incessantly about it. I don't think there's anything wrong with them, but it's a signal that for some folks conceptualizing what's in the docs is difficult for them. The explain command I think could go a long way in doing that, similar to how I used explain to learn SQL.

hangonhn 4y ago
Do you have a good guide to the mental model of git? I agree with you and I think that's what preventing me from getting more familiar with it.
- kodah 4y ago
  They used to have a page that summarized it all, but now there's a book! https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2 https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2
osigurdson 4y ago
I have a fuzzy jpg level understanding of the internals and I do completely fine with ~10 git commands. I’ve actually seen the opposite where people dive into the details and kind of get lost, give up and end up with a fragmented mental model that leaves them afraid to touch it.
- quickthrower2 4y ago
  My rough mental model is each ref is like a .zip of your source code. Branches point to these. When you commit you create a new ref, it points to it’s parent and the branch now points to it.
ryukoposting 4y ago
To what extent should educators be responsible for teaching Git? I learned just enough to push to master for my assignments, and handle merge conflicts. Profs didn't care if you knew Git, they cared if you know how red-black trees work, or how CANBus works.
- kodah 4y ago
  If by educators you mean professors I think none. Git is very specific and teaching the various different VCS paradigms wouldn't really be helpful in learning Git specifically. I say that in light of the fact that (at least in the US) a university is responsible for teaching students theory, and we've about maxed CS and CE out in theory. I think what programming (outside of even CS and CE) is lacking is an apprenticeship structure that starts on your first day on the job. That's all to say theory and practical application are always different but especially different in industry.

by kodah 4y ago

hangonhn 4y ago

Do you have a good guide to the mental model of git? I agree with you and I think that's what preventing me from getting more familiar with it.

kodah 4y ago
They used to have a page that summarized it all, but now there's a book! https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2 https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2

osigurdson 4y ago

I have a fuzzy jpg level understanding of the internals and I do completely fine with ~10 git commands. I’ve actually seen the opposite where people dive into the details and kind of get lost, give up and end up with a fragmented mental model that leaves them afraid to touch it.

quickthrower2 4y ago
My rough mental model is each ref is like a .zip of your source code. Branches point to these. When you commit you create a new ref, it points to it’s parent and the branch now points to it.

ryukoposting 4y ago

To what extent should educators be responsible for teaching Git? I learned just enough to push to master for my assignments, and handle merge conflicts. Profs didn't care if you knew Git, they cared if you know how red-black trees work, or how CANBus works.

kodah 4y ago
If by educators you mean professors I think none. Git is very specific and teaching the various different VCS paradigms wouldn't really be helpful in learning Git specifically. I say that in light of the fact that (at least in the US) a university is responsible for teaching students theory, and we've about maxed CS and CE out in theory. I think what programming (outside of even CS and CE) is lacking is an apprenticeship structure that starts on your first day on the job. That's all to say theory and practical application are always different but especially different in industry.