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It honestly depends on the Git GUI. Sourcetree has actually helped me use Git properly. It has stashing, rebasing and all the "advanced" features. It makes sel
by sthatipamala 15y ago
It honestly depends on the Git GUI. Sourcetree has actually helped me use Git properly. It has stashing, rebasing and all the "advanced" features. It makes selective staging a breeze because that is an inherently visual task. I also use the branch history diagram to visualize a commit's ancestry. These two features alone have made my commits more atomic and made me more confident in using advanced branching strategies.
On the other hand, the Github for Mac app is harmful because it hides almost all of git's features and replaces them with an SVN-like workflow. This lowers the barrier to entry and simplifies the common case, but if you're not going to Git like a DVCS then just don't use a DVCS.
My take: Git's power is not in its CLI tools. It is in its unique model of trees of commits/refs, and the concept of working tree+index+history. Good GUIs make you comfortable with this model. Bad GUIs hide it from you.
- jenius 15y agoI can agree with this. I haven't used sourcetree, so my post was inherently biased in the respect. If it does have all the advanced features, that's awesome. I still stand by my point though - you should know how to use git from command line. If you know it well and you want to try something else, go for it. But I think it's a very bad idea to learn only a gui and not be proficient with command line git.
- sthatipamala 15y agoWhat GUIs are you basing your article on?
- jenius 15y agoMostly github for mac, with a sprinkling of other random ones I have tried. Since I can already smell followups saying "you have to try every single one before you write an article like this!!1!", let me counter by saying exactly what I said above: It doesn't matter really which GUI we're talking about. You should learn command line git anyway. That was the point of this article.
- sthatipamala 15y ago>Since I can already smell followups saying "you have to try every single one before you write an article like this!!1!" Nope, not planning on doing so. I just wanted a context in which to evaluate your stance. HN is weird in that people only up vote opinionated articles but then berate you in the comments for being "biased". Good on you for contributing your opinion. =]
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]