Re: More support on branch description?

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Jan 19, 2012, 22:22 UTC
Message-ID: <7v4nvrib7u.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>
In-Reply-To: <CACsJy8D0_EB6jN7KxpzLtnPnj0HjdU6sNHJRyqXJf-2-ZNatFA@mail.gmail.com>

Nguyen Thai Ngoc Duy <pclouds@gmail.com> writes:

> The coming v1.7.9 will introduce branch description, mainly used in
> integration process. I think we could make it useful for users who
> don't extensively use request-pull/format-patch. Showing a short
> summary along with branch name in "git branch" would be nice.

I agree that it would be nice to give users access to the information even if the branch ends up being merged to the master branch by you and never leaves your repository by itself.

You however are misguided to say "Showing a short summary along...".

The branch description support is to give users a place to record detailed explanation about a branch, similar in size to what you would normally place in a log message of a commit or a cover letter of a series. There wasn't any convenient place to do so for a branch that is (1) inherently a moving target while it is being developed and (2) is not a good match for tags and notes.

There already is a good place for a brief summary and it is called "branch name". Name your branches just like you name your functions.