Long ago I changed the default commit message to include headers “Why?” and “How?” to remind myself that I need to explain why a change is made (what this article focuses on), and how it is made (different implementation approaches considered). I followed this format for a long time. I was in the top 1% for commit message length at the company.
Tangent: I once worried about things breaking when commit messages got too long. I tried really long commit messages and nothing broke: <a href="https://github.com/kccqzy/long-commit-messages/commit/ccfda400ebe0248ca4a37d1a087507c7dd455a3b" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/kccqzy/long-commit-messages/commit/ccfda4...
Why make this change at all? Why do it this way? What would have been the next best way, and why not that? What important assumptions justify this? What's next for this? etc
kccqzy · · focus · HN ↗
Tangent: I once worried about things breaking when commit messages got too long. I tried really long commit messages and nothing broke: <a href="https://github.com/kccqzy/long-commit-messages/commit/ccfda400ebe0248ca4a37d1a087507c7dd455a3b" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/kccqzy/long-commit-messages/commit/ccfda4...
lokar · · focus · HN ↗