Re: [PATCH v4] MyFirstContribution: refrain from self-iterating too much

From: Torsten Bögershausen <tboegi@web.de>
Date: Jul 28, 2023, 21:21 UTC
Message-ID: <20230728212144.dpcbp6gfhfuiabia@tb-raspi4>
In-Reply-To: <xmqqmszg987u.fsf_-_@gitster.g>

On Thu, Jul 27, 2023 at 05:43:17PM -0700, Junio C Hamano wrote:

Show 8 quoted lines

> Finding mistakes in and improving your own patches is a good idea,
> but doing so too quickly is being inconsiderate to reviewers who
> have just seen the initial iteration and taking their time to review
> it.  Encourage new developers to perform such a self review before
> they send out their patches, not after.  After sending a patch that
> they immediately found mistakes in, they are welcome to comment on
> them, mentioning what and how they plan to improve them in an
> updated version, before sending out their updates.

That's all good, no possible improvements from my side. However, a possible question below.

[]

Show 20 quoted lines

> +Please give reviewers enough time to process your initial patch before
> +sending an updated version. That is, resist the temptation to send a new
> +version immediately, because others may have already started reviewing
> +your initial version.
> +
> +While waiting for review comments, you may find mistakes in your initial
> +patch, or perhaps realize a different and better way to achieve the goal
> +of the patch. In this case you may communicate your findings to other
> +reviewers as follows:
> +
> + - If the mistakes you found are minor, send a reply to your patch as if
> +   you were a reviewer and mention that you will fix them in an
> +   updated version.
> +
> + - On the other hand, if you think you want to change the course so
> +   drastically that reviews on the initial patch would be a waste of
> +   time (for everyone involved), retract the patch immediately with
> +   a reply like "I am working on a much better approach, so please
> +   ignore this patch and wait for the updated version."
> +

(That's all good)

> +Now, the above is a good practice if you sent your initial patch
> +prematurely without polish.  But a better approach of course is to avoid
> +sending your patch prematurely in the first place.

That is of course a good suggestion. I wonder, how much a first time contributor knows about "polishing", in the Git sense ? From my experience, the polishing is or could be a learning process, which needs interaction with the reviewers. Would it make sense to remove the sentences above and ask people to mark their patch with RFC ?

Or is this all too much bikeshedding, IOW I am happy with V4 as is.