Searching history with git log -S - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Searching History with git log -S

📖 Scenario: You are working on a project with a Git repository. You want to find all commits where a specific word or phrase was added or removed in the code. This helps you track when a feature or bug was introduced.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to use git log -S to search commit history for changes that add or remove a specific string.

📋 What You'll Learn

A Git repository with at least 3 commits

A file named app.txt tracked by Git

Use git log -S to search commit history

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Developers often need to find when a bug or feature was introduced by searching commit history for specific code changes.

💼 Career

Knowing how to use <code>git log -S</code> is useful for debugging, code reviews, and understanding project history in software development roles.

1

Create a Git repository and add a file

Initialize a Git repository in the current folder by running git init. Then create a file named app.txt with the exact content Hello World. Add and commit this file with the message Initial commit.

Git

# Run the commands below
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use git init to start a repo. Use echo to create the file. Then add and commit.

2

Make a second commit changing the file

Change the content of app.txt to Hello Git. Then add and commit this change with the message Update greeting.

Git

git init

echo "Hello World" > app.txt

git add app.txt

git commit -m "Initial commit"

# Change app.txt content to "Hello Git" and commit
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use echo again to overwrite the file. Then add and commit.

3

Make a third commit adding a new line

Append the line Goodbye to app.txt. Then add and commit this change with the message Add farewell.

Git

git init

echo "Hello World" > app.txt

git add app.txt

git commit -m "Initial commit"

echo "Hello Git" > app.txt

git add app.txt

git commit -m "Update greeting"

# Append "Goodbye" to app.txt and commit
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use >> to append text to the file. Then add and commit.

4

Search commits that added or removed the word 'Goodbye'

Run the command git log -S Goodbye --oneline to find commits where the word Goodbye was added or removed. This will show the commit hash and message.

Git

git init

echo "Hello World" > app.txt

git add app.txt

git commit -m "Initial commit"

echo "Hello Git" > app.txt

git add app.txt

git commit -m "Update greeting"

echo "Goodbye" >> app.txt

git add app.txt

git commit -m "Add farewell"

# Run git log -S Goodbye --oneline
# Your code here

Need a hint?

The -S option searches for commits that add or remove the string. Use --oneline for a short summary.