[PATCH v2 4/4] doc: git-add: explain inconsistent terminology

From: Julia Evans via GitGitGadget <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
Date: Aug 13, 2025, 23:20 UTC
Message-ID: <9e595f9ad59776d74a431731824410c7b73795dd.1755127218.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <pull.1952.v2.git.1755127218.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>

From: Julia Evans <julia@jvns.ca>

I think the fact that git uses these three terms interchangeably is extremely confusing and that it deserves to be noted.

Signed-off-by: Julia Evans <julia@jvns.ca>
---
 Documentation/git-add.adoc | 4 ++++
 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+)

diff --git a/Documentation/git-add.adoc b/Documentation/git-add.adoc
index 6a6f5223419f..0b887e1d60ca 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-add.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/git-add.adoc
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@ exact filename of an ignored file (e.g. `git add ignored.txt`), `git
 add` will fail with a list of ignored files. Otherwise it will silently
 ignore the file.
 
+[NOTE]
+Git uses the terms "staging area", "index" and "cache" interchangeably
+for historical reasons.
+
 OPTIONS
 -------
 `<pathspec>...`::

-- 
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