Re: [PATCH] Implement git-staged, an alias for 'git diff --cached'.

From: Stephan Beyer <s-beyer@gmx.net>
Date: Oct 29, 2008, 15:22 UTC
Message-ID: <20081029152202.GA10029@leksak.fem-net>
In-Reply-To: <alpine.DEB.1.00.0810291604200.22125@pacific.mpi-cbg.de.mpi-cbg.de>

Hi,

Johannes Schindelin wrote:

> So saying "this is what aliases are for" you ask for _newbies_ to add it 
> for themselves.  We are talking the same newbies who should be helped by 
> that command, and typically do not know that there are Git aliases yet.

I'm not sure if yet more commands really help newbies.

I *see* the problem that talking about the index, the cache and the staging area can be difficult to newbies. But then I'd rather vote for "git diff --staged" (instead of --cached) or "git show --staged" (both make sense in some way). Perhaps it is even sufficient to add a help text to "git status", like this:

 # Changes to be committed:
 #   (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
+#   (use "git diff --cached" to see a diff of staged files)

For me, a "git staged" feels wrong without a "git stage" (alias for "git add") and "git unstage <file>" (alias for "git reset <file>"). And I think the list of examples can easily be continued.

Regards,
  Stephan

-- 
Stephan Beyer <s-beyer@gmx.net>, PGP 0x6EDDD207FCC5040F