Re: [PATCH v5] doc: add an explanation of Git's data model

From: Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
Date: Nov 3, 2025, 07:40 UTC
Message-ID: <aQhcZwv0PdwNc6RW@pks.im>
In-Reply-To: <pull.1981.v5.git.1761856336360.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>

On Thu, Oct 30, 2025 at 08:32:16PM +0000, Julia Evans via GitGitGadget wrote:

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> diff --git a/Documentation/gitdatamodel.adoc b/Documentation/gitdatamodel.adoc
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000000..1cefbb4833
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/Documentation/gitdatamodel.adoc

[snip]

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> +2. Its *parent commit ID(s)*. The first commit in a repository has 0 parents,
> +  regular commits have 1 parent, merge commits have 2 or more parents
> +3. An *author* and the time the commit was authored
> +4. A *committer* and the time the commit was committed.
> +5. A *commit message*

Nit: The punctuation is a bit inconsistent here, as some list items have
a trailing dot while others don't.

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> +[[references]]
> +REFERENCES
> +----------
> +
> +References are a way to give a name to a commit.
> +It's easier to remember "the changes I'm working on are on the `turtle`
> +branch" than "the changes are in commit bb69721404348e".
> +Git often uses "ref" as shorthand for "reference".
> +
> +References can either refer to:
> +
> +1. An object ID, usually a <<commit,commit>> ID
> +2. Another reference. This is called a "symbolic reference".

Same here.

Other than these two nits and Junio's comments I think this is in a good enough shape. Thanks for working on this!

Patrick