Writing good commit messages in Git - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Writing Good Commit Messages

📖 Scenario: You are working on a small project with your friend. You want to keep track of your changes clearly so both of you understand what was done and why. Writing good commit messages helps everyone on the team stay organized and makes it easier to find changes later.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to write clear and helpful git commit messages by creating commits with specific messages following best practices.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a git repository

Make a file change

Write a commit message with a short summary

Add a detailed description in the commit message body

Use proper formatting for commit messages

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Writing clear commit messages is like keeping a diary of your work. It helps you and your team remember what was done and why, making collaboration smoother.

💼 Career

Employers expect developers to write meaningful commit messages. This skill improves teamwork, code reviews, and project maintenance.

1

Initialize Git Repository and Create a File

Initialize a new git repository in your current folder by running git init. Then create a file called README.md with the exact content # Project Title.

Git

# Run git init and create README.md with '# Project Title' inside
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use git init to start a new repository. Use echo or a text editor to create README.md with the exact text.

2

Add the File and Prepare to Commit

Add the file README.md to the git staging area using git add README.md. This prepares the file to be committed.

Git

git init

echo "# Project Title" > README.md

# Add README.md to staging area
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use git add README.md to stage the file for commit.

3

Write a Commit with a Short Summary

Create a commit with the message Initial commit using git commit -m "Initial commit". This message is a short summary of the change.

Git

git init

echo "# Project Title" > README.md

git add README.md

# Commit with message 'Initial commit'
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use git commit -m "Your message" to commit with a short message.

4

Write a Commit with a Detailed Message

Modify the README.md file by adding the line Project description goes here.. Then add the file again with git add README.md. Finally, create a commit with a detailed message using git commit -m "Add project description" -m "Added a description line to README.md to explain the project purpose.". The first -m is the short summary, the second -m is the detailed body.

Git

git init

echo "# Project Title" > README.md

git add README.md

git commit -m "Initial commit"

# Add description line to README.md
# Add README.md to staging
# Commit with short and detailed messages
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use echo with >> to append text. Use two -m options in git commit for short and detailed messages.