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Re: [RFC/PATCH] revision.c: add --format option for 'git log'

From
Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@gmail.com>
Date
Feb 22, 2009, 18:55 UTC
Message-ID
<94a0d4530902221055g4e815a78oc0aa094304588ab7@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<7vbpsuxqpo.fsf@gitster.siamese.dyndns.org>
On Sun, Feb 22, 2009 at 8:37 PM, Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:
Show 8 quoted lines
> Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> I understand the option should be kept for people that are used to it,
>
> It is not just that.  New people should learn existing lingo, as that is
> the word used in the existing documentation and various random web pages,
> so that they can use the same language when they teach people who are
> newer than themselves.

Yes, but the existing lingo is not perfect... I'm proposing this particular lingo to be changed.

> If the existing word was not pretty (that came from "pretty-formatting")
> but something unpronouncible like '--gzxfw=short", then your argument
> might make some sense, but there is no such "breakage we need to fix"
> here.

It's not breakage that needs to be fixed, it's UI improvement, and one guideline is that the interface needs to be intuitive and natural (when possible). IMO pretty > gzxfw, but format > pretty. Don't you think that --format=email is more natural than --pretty=email? I think you are holding a bit too tight on the code reason why it's called --pretty, but users shouldn't need to see the code in order to understand why the naming of the options in git commands make sense.

-- 
Felipe Contreras
Previous: Junio C HamanoNext: Junio C Hamano
Message 8 of 23 in “revision.c: add --format option for 'git log'”
  1. revision.c: add --format option for 'git log'Felipe Contreras, Feb 21, 2009
  2. Junio C HamanoFeb 22, 2009
  3. Felipe ContrerasFeb 22, 2009
  4. Junio C HamanoFeb 22, 2009
  5. Junio C HamanoFeb 22, 2009
  6. Felipe ContrerasFeb 22, 2009
  7. Junio C HamanoFeb 22, 2009
  8. Felipe ContrerasFeb 22, 2009
  9. Junio C HamanoFeb 23, 2009
  10. Felipe ContrerasFeb 24, 2009
  11. Felipe ContrerasFeb 24, 2009
  12. Junio C HamanoFeb 24, 2009
  13. Nanako ShiraishiFeb 24, 2009
  14. Junio C HamanoFeb 24, 2009
  15. Felipe ContrerasFeb 24, 2009
  16. Add --format that is a synonym to --prettyNanako Shiraishi, Feb 24, 2009
  17. Jeff KingFeb 24, 2009
  18. Junio C HamanoFeb 24, 2009
  19. Jeff KingFeb 24, 2009
  20. Felipe ContrerasFeb 24, 2009
  21. Linus TorvaldsFeb 22, 2009
  22. Jakub NarebskiFeb 22, 2009
  23. Wincent ColaiutaFeb 23, 2009

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