Re: [PATCH v2] [Outreachy] commit.c: clarify comment describing commit re-parse behavior

From: Christian Couder <christian.couder@gmail.com>
Date: Oct 13, 2025, 09:43 UTC
Message-ID: <CAP8UFD3nn=n3XLRKjrHpMOM4uf3wCFGMjdy13wOp=_vZHTeYWw@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <20251011093611.62937-1-okhuomonajayi54@gmail.com>

On Sat, Oct 11, 2025 at 11:36 AM Okhuomon Ajayi <okhuomonajayi54@gmail.com> wrote:

Show 7 quoted lines

>
> The existing comment in `parse_commit_buffer()` mentioned a "leftover
> from an earlier failed parse", which could be confusing to new readers.
> It implied an error state rather than the intended cleanup before
> re-parsing a commit.
>
> Clarifying the comment makes it explicit that we reset the parent list

We use an imperative mood to describe what a patch does. (See the "imperative-mood" section of Documentation/SubmittingPatches.)

So maybe: "Clarify the comment to make it explicit..." or "Let's clarify the comment to make it explicit..."

Show 5 quoted lines

> to ensure a clean state before re-parsing, which improves readability
> and avoids misunderstanding during future maintenance.
>
> Signed-off-by: Okhuomon Ajayi <okhuomonajayi54@gmail.com>
> ---

When looking at your email on the mailing list archive:

https://lore.kernel.org/git/20251011093611.62937-1-okhuomonajayi54@gmail.com/T/#u

it looks like your message is the only one in its thread. So it's not easy to understand why it's a "v2", and what the corresponding v1 is.

To link a message to a previous one, there is the "In-Reply-To:" email header. It can be added using the `--in-reply-to='...'` command line option if you use `git send-email` to send emails. (Not sure how to do it with GigGitGadget.)

At the very least, you could add a regular link to this part of your email (after line containing only three dash characters above) maybe like this:

https://lore.kernel.org/git/20251010233303.783212-1-okhuomonajayi54@gmail.com/

By the way, in this part of your email patches, if there is no cover letter where you already do it, it's a good idea to explain the context of the patch, and when it's not the first version, to list the changes compared to the previous version and often to provide a range-diff. (See Documentation/SubmittingPatches about the cover letter.)

>  commit.c | 7 +++----
>  1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

Thanks.