Writing Good Commit Messages is the Wrong Place to Start

I’m a big fan of Git and I’ve worked with lots of developers in growing their Git skills. Often developers learning Git start by learning how to write a “good” commit message.

While writing “good” commit messages is an important skill, in my opinion it is the wrong place to start.

Until you’re doing things like git rebase and git blame, you don’t get value from well written commit messages.

It is okay to write all your commit messages using -m for now. When you start to unlock the power of Git, you’ll want to write better commit messages because they’ll make your life easier.

Sal Ferrarello (@salcode)

Sal is a PHP developer with a focus on the WordPress platform. He is a conference speaker with a background including Piano Player, Radio DJ, Magician/Juggler, Beach Photographer, and High School Math Teacher. Sal can be found professionally at WebDevStudios, where he works as a senior backend engineer.