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> I’d place it into the look-it-up-if-needed category. Knowing how to use git bisect is what elevates a programmer to the next level. Just understanding how i

> I’d place it into the look-it-up-if-needed category. Knowing how to use git bisect is what elevates a programmer to the next level. Just understanding how it works gives you a new way to reason about bug finding and fixing (or feature development using old and new), and then actually using it can make you a bug fixing master.

pydry 3y ago
It feels like a weird and magical superpower but realistically I find use for it about once every 6 years and even then I'm fairly sure I could have done without it. This was not my impression when I first learned about it. I thought I'd be using it all the time.
- jedberg 3y ago
  > and even then I'm fairly sure I could have done without it. Just understating how git bisect works is the real superpower. The tool is a nice add on, but often you're right, is easier to bisect by hand by going to a known working commit and then doing a smart bisect based on the code you think might be offending. But at least knowing the concept of bisection is a huge game changer.
  - pixelpoet 3y ago
    I'm pretty sure every programmer learns about binary search near the beginning, and even without that has searched through some alphabetical listing without starting at aardvark (if not, I'd argue they have zero hope at much of anything abstract). Really feels like a stretch to credit git, of all things, with that fundamental understanding. It's like saying you need to operate a nuclear power plant to understand the benefits of locking doors.
    - xenomachina 3y ago
      When people search through alphabetical listings, they usually don't use plain old binary search, but instead use something like interpolation search. For example, if you want to find the word "xylostroma” in the dictionary, you aren't going to start in the middle. Instead, you'll start about 90% of the way through, and then make adjustments based on how far off you were.
      - lost_tourist 3y ago
        Yeah but that is only optimal if you know the general location. Often when you have a bug you don't know where it snuck in, especially if it's something like a race condition.
        xenomachina 3y ago
        Sure. My point was just that contrary to what programmers typically think, people don't use binary search to look up things in a dictionary.
rmccue 3y ago
I don’t disagree, and I personally use it, but it’s a decent distance from teaching students the basics of git. I’d bundle it into a group of tools that are useful to know the existence of, and look up the docs when needed.

pydry 3y ago

It feels like a weird and magical superpower but realistically I find use for it about once every 6 years and even then I'm fairly sure I could have done without it. This was not my impression when I first learned about it. I thought I'd be using it all the time.

jedberg 3y ago
> and even then I'm fairly sure I could have done without it. Just understating how git bisect works is the real superpower. The tool is a nice add on, but often you're right, is easier to bisect by hand by going to a known working commit and then doing a smart bisect based on the code you think might be offending. But at least knowing the concept of bisection is a huge game changer.
- pixelpoet 3y ago
  I'm pretty sure every programmer learns about binary search near the beginning, and even without that has searched through some alphabetical listing without starting at aardvark (if not, I'd argue they have zero hope at much of anything abstract). Really feels like a stretch to credit git, of all things, with that fundamental understanding. It's like saying you need to operate a nuclear power plant to understand the benefits of locking doors.
  - xenomachina 3y ago
    When people search through alphabetical listings, they usually don't use plain old binary search, but instead use something like interpolation search. For example, if you want to find the word "xylostroma” in the dictionary, you aren't going to start in the middle. Instead, you'll start about 90% of the way through, and then make adjustments based on how far off you were.
    - lost_tourist 3y ago
      Yeah but that is only optimal if you know the general location. Often when you have a bug you don't know where it snuck in, especially if it's something like a race condition.
      - xenomachina 3y ago
        Sure. My point was just that contrary to what programmers typically think, people don't use binary search to look up things in a dictionary.

rmccue 3y ago

I don’t disagree, and I personally use it, but it’s a decent distance from teaching students the basics of git. I’d bundle it into a group of tools that are useful to know the existence of, and look up the docs when needed.