git-add --patch

I just recently found Ryan Tomayko's essay about using git-add --patch.

I love the essay; it's quite well written.

He makes two interesting and inter-related points in the essay:

• git-add --patch allows you to solve a problem in a (fairly) easy way which is extremely hard to solve using other source code control tools and methodologies.


• The flexibility and power of Git is integral to its philosophy, and you won't understand Git until you understand this philosophy.

From the essay:

The thing about Git is that it's oddly liberal with how and when you use it. Version control systems have traditionally required a lot of up-front planning followed by constant interaction to get changes to the right place at the right time and in the right order.
...
Git is quite different in this regard.
...
When I'm coding, I'm coding. Period. Version control -- out of my head. When I feel the need to organize code into logical pieces and write about it, I switch into version control mode and go at it.

It's a very interesting essay, both the concrete parts about how to use the low-level Git tools to accomplish some very specific tests, as well as the more abstract sections about why the author feels that this tool supports his own personal software development process more effectively.

I think that there isn't enough discussion about the role of tools in the development process, and about how tools influence and guide the success or failure of a particular process. One of my favorite articles in this respect is Martin Fowler's essay on Continuous Integration. I'm pleased whenever I find articles discussing the interaction of tools and process, since more discussion can only help improve the situation with respect to software development processes and tools.