Re: [PATCH] Documentation: add a planning document for the next CLI revamp

From: Nicolas Pitre <nico@cam.org>
Date: Oct 30, 2008, 16:53 UTC
Message-ID: <alpine.LFD.2.00.0810301105350.13034@xanadu.home>
In-Reply-To: <20081030150135.GG24098@artemis.corp>

On Thu, 30 Oct 2008, Pierre Habouzit wrote:

Show 20 quoted lines

> On Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 02:59:28PM +0000, Mike Hommey wrote:
> > On Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 07:52:53AM -0700, Shawn O. Pearce <spearce@spearce.org> wrote:
> > > +1 to Nico's NAK.
> > > 
> > > Although I was at the GitTogether I don't remember this change to
> > > checkout being discussed.  I must have been asleep reading email
> > > or something.  I am _NOT_ in favor of this change; I think the
> > > current behavior of "git checkout origin/master" is correct and as
> > > sane as we can make it.
> > 
> > Except he was talking about 'git checkout branch', not 'git checkout
> > origin/branch'. And I would be fine with 'git checkout branch' doing
> > what 'git checkout -b branch $remote/branch' does if $remote is unique
> > (i.e. there is no other 'branch' branch in any other remote) and the
> > 'branch' branch doesn't already exist.
> 
> Seconded.
> 
> Having git-checkout $foo being a shorthand for git checkout -b $foo
> origin/$foo when origin/$foo exists and $foo doesn't is definitely handy.

No.  This is only the first step towards insanity.

In many cases origin/$foo == origin/master so this can't work in that case which is, after all, the common case. Therefore I think this is wrong to add magic operations which are not useful for the common case and actively _hide_ how git actually works. Not only will you have to explain how git works anyway for that common origin/master case, but you'll also have to explain why sometimes the magic works and sometimes not. Please keep such convenience shortcuts for your own scripts and/or aliases.

Nicolas