documentation: add tutorial for first contribution

This tutorial covers how to add a new command to Git and, in the
process, everything from cloning git/git to getting reviewed on the
mailing list. It's meant for new contributors to go through
interactively, learning the techniques generally used by the git/git
development community.

Reviewed-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Reviewed-by: Jonathan Tan <jonathantanmy@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Emily Shaffer <emilyshaffer@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>

1 files changed, 1074 insertions, 0 deletions

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+My First Contribution to the Git Project
+========================================
+
+== Summary
+
+This is a tutorial demonstrating the end-to-end workflow of creating a change to
+the Git tree, sending it for review, and making changes based on comments.
+
+=== Prerequisites
+
+This tutorial assumes you're already fairly familiar with using Git to manage
+source code.  The Git workflow steps will largely remain unexplained.
+
+=== Related Reading
+
+This tutorial aims to summarize the following documents, but the reader may find
+useful additional context:
+
+- `Documentation/SubmittingPatches`
+- `Documentation/howto/new-command.txt`
+
+== Getting Started
+
+=== Clone the Git Repository
+
+Git is mirrored in a number of locations. Clone the repository from one of them;
+https://git-scm.com/downloads suggests one of the best places to clone from is
+the mirror on GitHub.
+
+----
+$ git clone https://github.com/git/git git
+----
+
+=== Identify Problem to Solve
+
+////
+Use + to indicate fixed-width here; couldn't get ` to work nicely with the
+quotes around "Pony Saying 'Um, Hello'".
+////
+In this tutorial, we will add a new command, +git psuh+, short for ``Pony Saying
+`Um, Hello''' - a feature which has gone unimplemented despite a high frequency
+of invocation during users' typical daily workflow.
+
+(We've seen some other effort in this space with the implementation of popular
+commands such as `sl`.)
+
+=== Set Up Your Workspace
+
+Let's start by making a development branch to work on our changes. Per
+`Documentation/SubmittingPatches`, since a brand new command is a new feature,
+it's fine to base your work on `master`. However, in the future for bugfixes,
+etc., you should check that document and base it on the appropriate branch.
+
+For the purposes of this document, we will base all our work on the `master`
+branch of the upstream project. Create the `psuh` branch you will use for
+development like so:
+
+----
+$ git checkout -b psuh origin/master
+----
+
+We'll make a number of commits here in order to demonstrate how to send a topic
+with multiple patches up for review simultaneously.
+
+== Code It Up!
+
+NOTE: A reference implementation can be found at
+https://github.com/nasamuffin/git/tree/psuh.
+
+=== Adding a New Command
+
+Lots of the subcommands are written as builtins, which means they are
+implemented in C and compiled into the main `git` executable. Implementing the
+very simple `psuh` command as a built-in will demonstrate the structure of the
+codebase, the internal API, and the process of working together as a contributor
+with the reviewers and maintainer to integrate this change into the system.
+
+Built-in subcommands are typically implemented in a function named "cmd_"
+followed by the name of the subcommand, in a source file named after the
+subcommand and contained within `builtin/`. So it makes sense to implement your
+command in `builtin/psuh.c`. Create that file, and within it, write the entry
+point for your command in a function matching the style and signature:
+
+----
+int cmd_psuh(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
+----
+
+We'll also need to add the declaration of psuh; open up `builtin.h`, find the
+declaration for `cmd_push`, and add a new line for `psuh` immediately before it,
+in order to keep the declarations sorted:
+
+----
+int cmd_psuh(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
+----
+
+Be sure to `#include "builtin.h"` in your `psuh.c`.
+
+Go ahead and add some throwaway printf to that function. This is a decent
+starting point as we can now add build rules and register the command.
+
+NOTE: Your throwaway text, as well as much of the text you will be adding over
+the course of this tutorial, is user-facing. That means it needs to be
+localizable. Take a look at `po/README` under "Marking strings for translation".
+Throughout the tutorial, we will mark strings for translation as necessary; you
+should also do so when writing your user-facing commands in the future.
+
+----
+int cmd_psuh(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
+{
+	printf(_("Pony saying hello goes here.\n"));
+	return 0;
+}
+----
+
+Let's try to build it.  Open `Makefile`, find where `builtin/push.o` is added
+to `BUILTIN_OBJS`, and add `builtin/psuh.o` in the same way next to it in
+alphabetical order. Once you've done so, move to the top-level directory and
+build simply with `make`. Also add the `DEVELOPER=1` variable to turn on
+some additional warnings:
+
+----
+$ echo DEVELOPER=1 >config.mak
+$ make
+----
+
+NOTE: When you are developing the Git project, it's preferred that you use the
+`DEVELOPER` flag; if there's some reason it doesn't work for you, you can turn
+it off, but it's a good idea to mention the problem to the mailing list.
+
+NOTE: The Git build is parallelizable. `-j#` is not included above but you can
+use it as you prefer, here and elsewhere.
+
+Great, now your new command builds happily on its own. But nobody invokes it.
+Let's change that.
+
+The list of commands lives in `git.c`. We can register a new command by adding
+a `cmd_struct` to the `commands[]` array. `struct cmd_struct` takes a string
+with the command name, a function pointer to the command implementation, and a
+setup option flag. For now, let's keep mimicking `push`. Find the line where
+`cmd_push` is registered, copy it, and modify it for `cmd_psuh`, placing the new
+line in alphabetical order.
+
+The options are documented in `builtin.h` under "Adding a new built-in." Since
+we hope to print some data about the user's current workspace context later,
+we need a Git directory, so choose `RUN_SETUP` as your only option.
+
+Go ahead and build again. You should see a clean build, so let's kick the tires
+and see if it works. There's a binary you can use to test with in the
+`bin-wrappers` directory.
+
+----
+$ ./bin-wrappers/git psuh
+----
+
+Check it out! You've got a command! Nice work! Let's commit this.
+
+----
+$ git add Makefile builtin.h builtin/psuh.c git.c
+$ git commit -s
+----
+
+You will be presented with your editor in order to write a commit message. Start
+the commit with a 50-column or less subject line, including the name of the
+component you're working on, followed by a blank line (always required) and then
+the body of your commit message, which should provide the bulk of the context.
+Remember to be explicit and provide the "Why" of your change, especially if it
+couldn't easily be understood from your diff. When editing your commit message,
+don't remove the Signed-off-by line which was added by `-s` above.
+
+----
+psuh: add a built-in by popular demand
+
+Internal metrics indicate this is a command many users expect to be
+present. So here's an implementation to help drive customer
+satisfaction and engagement: a pony which doubtfully greets the user,
+or, a Pony Saying "Um, Hello" (PSUH).
+
+This commit message is intentionally formatted to 72 columns per line,
+starts with a single line as "commit message subject" that is written as
+if to command the codebase to do something (add this, teach a command
+that). The body of the message is designed to add information about the
+commit that is not readily deduced from reading the associated diff,
+such as answering the question "why?".
+
+Signed-off-by: A U Thor <author@example.com>
+----
+
+Go ahead and inspect your new commit with `git show`. "psuh:" indicates you
+have modified mainly the `psuh` command. The subject line gives readers an idea
+of what you've changed. The sign-off line (`-s`) indicates that you agree to
+the Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1 (see the
+`Documentation/SubmittingPatches` +++[[dco]]+++ header).
+
+For the remainder of the tutorial, the subject line only will be listed for the
+sake of brevity. However, fully-fleshed example commit messages are available
+on the reference implementation linked at the top of this document.
+
+=== Implementation
+
+It's probably useful to do at least something besides printing out a string.
+Let's start by having a look at everything we get.
+
+Modify your `cmd_psuh` implementation to dump the args you're passed:
+
+----
+	int i;
+
+	...
+
+	printf(Q_("Your args (there is %d):\n",
+		  "Your args (there are %d):\n",
+		  argc),
+	       argc);
+	for (i = 0; i < argc; i++)
+		printf("%d: %s\n", i, argv[i]);
+
+	printf(_("Your current working directory:\n<top-level>%s%s\n"),
+	       prefix ? "/" : "", prefix ? prefix : "");
+
+----
+
+Build and try it. As you may expect, there's pretty much just whatever we give
+on the command line, including the name of our command. (If `prefix` is empty
+for you, try `cd Documentation/ && ../bin-wrappers/git psuh`). That's not so
+helpful. So what other context can we get?
+
+Add a line to `#include "config.h"`. Then, add the following bits to the
+function body:
+
+----
+	const char *cfg_name;
+
+...
+
+	git_config(git_default_config, NULL)
+	if (git_config_get_string_const("user.name", &cfg_name) > 0)
+		printf(_("No name is found in config\n"));
+	else
+		printf(_("Your name: %s\n"), cfg_name);
+----
+
+`git_config()` will grab the configuration from config files known to Git and
+apply standard precedence rules. `git_config_get_string_const()` will look up
+a specific key ("user.name") and give you the value. There are a number of
+single-key lookup functions like this one; you can see them all (and more info
+about how to use `git_config()`) in `Documentation/technical/api-config.txt`.
+
+You should see that the name printed matches the one you see when you run:
+
+----
+$ git config --get user.name
+----
+
+Great! Now we know how to check for values in the Git config. Let's commit this
+too, so we don't lose our progress.
+
+----
+$ git add builtin/psuh.c
+$ git commit -sm "psuh: show parameters & config opts"
+----
+
+NOTE: Again, the above is for sake of brevity in this tutorial. In a real change
+you should not use `-m` but instead use the editor to write a meaningful
+message.
+
+Still, it'd be nice to know what the user's working context is like. Let's see
+if we can print the name of the user's current branch. We can mimic the
+`git status` implementation; the printer is located in `wt-status.c` and we can
+see that the branch is held in a `struct wt_status`.
+
+`wt_status_print()` gets invoked by `cmd_status()` in `builtin/commit.c`.
+Looking at that implementation we see the status config being populated like so:
+
+----
+status_init_config(&s, git_status_config);
+----
+
+But as we drill down, we can find that `status_init_config()` wraps a call
+to `git_config()`. Let's modify the code we wrote in the previous commit.
+
+Be sure to include the header to allow you to use `struct wt_status`:
+----
+#include "wt-status.h"
+----
+
+Then modify your `cmd_psuh` implementation to declare your `struct wt_status`,
+prepare it, and print its contents:
+
+----
+	struct wt_status status;
+
+...
+
+	wt_status_prepare(the_repository, &status);
+	git_config(git_default_config, &status);
+
+...
+
+	printf(_("Your current branch: %s\n"), status.branch);
+----
+
+Run it again. Check it out - here's the (verbose) name of your current branch!
+
+Let's commit this as well.
+
+----
+$ git commit -sm "psuh: print the current branch"
+----
+
+Now let's see if we can get some info about a specific commit.
+
+Luckily, there are some helpers for us here. `commit.h` has a function called
+`lookup_commit_reference_by_name` to which we can simply provide a hardcoded
+string; `pretty.h` has an extremely handy `pp_commit_easy()` call which doesn't
+require a full format object to be passed.
+
+Add the following includes:
+
+----
+#include "commit.h"
+#include "pretty.h"
+----
+
+Then, add the following lines within your implementation of `cmd_psuh()` near
+the declarations and the logic, respectively.
+
+----
+	struct commit *c = NULL;
+	struct strbuf commitline = STRBUF_INIT;
+
+...
+
+	c = lookup_commit_reference_by_name("origin/master");
+
+	if (c != NULL) {
+		pp_commit_easy(CMIT_FMT_ONELINE, c, &commitline);
+		printf(_("Current commit: %s\n"), commitline.buf);
+	}
+----
+
+The `struct strbuf` provides some safety belts to your basic `char*`, one of
+which is a length member to prevent buffer overruns. It needs to be initialized
+nicely with `STRBUF_INIT`. Keep it in mind when you need to pass around `char*`.
+
+`lookup_commit_reference_by_name` resolves the name you pass it, so you can play
+with the value there and see what kind of things you can come up with.
+
+`pp_commit_easy` is a convenience wrapper in `pretty.h` that takes a single
+format enum shorthand, rather than an entire format struct. It then
+pretty-prints the commit according to that shorthand. These are similar to the
+formats available with `--pretty=FOO` in many Git commands.
+
+Build it and run, and if you're using the same name in the example, you should
+see the subject line of the most recent commit in `origin/master` that you know
+about. Neat! Let's commit that as well.
+
+----
+$ git commit -sm "psuh: display the top of origin/master"
+----
+
+=== Adding Documentation
+
+Awesome! You've got a fantastic new command that you're ready to share with the
+community. But hang on just a minute - this isn't very user-friendly. Run the
+following:
+
+----
+$ ./bin-wrappers/git help psuh
+----
+
+Your new command is undocumented! Let's fix that.
+
+Take a look at `Documentation/git-*.txt`. These are the manpages for the
+subcommands that Git knows about. You can open these up and take a look to get
+acquainted with the format, but then go ahead and make a new file
+`Documentation/git-psuh.txt`. Like with most of the documentation in the Git
+project, help pages are written with AsciiDoc (see CodingGuidelines, "Writing
+Documentation" section). Use the following template to fill out your own
+manpage:
+
+// Surprisingly difficult to embed AsciiDoc source within AsciiDoc.
+[listing]
+....
+git-psuh(1)
+===========
+
+NAME
+----
+git-psuh - Delight users' typo with a shy horse
+
+
+SYNOPSIS
+--------
+[verse]
+'git-psuh'
+
+DESCRIPTION
+-----------
+...
+
+OPTIONS[[OPTIONS]]
+------------------
+...
+
+OUTPUT
+------
+...
+
+
+GIT
+---
+Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
+....
+
+The most important pieces of this to note are the file header, underlined by =,
+the NAME section, and the SYNOPSIS, which would normally contain the grammar if
+your command took arguments. Try to use well-established manpage headers so your
+documentation is consistent with other Git and UNIX manpages; this makes life
+easier for your user, who can skip to the section they know contains the
+information they need.
+
+Now that you've written your manpage, you'll need to build it explicitly. We
+convert your AsciiDoc to troff which is man-readable like so:
+
+----
+$ make all doc
+$ man Documentation/git-psuh.1
+----
+
+or
+
+----
+$ make -C Documentation/ git-psuh.1
+$ man Documentation/git-psuh.1
+----
+
+NOTE: You may need to install the package `asciidoc` to get this to work.
+
+While this isn't as satisfying as running through `git help`, you can at least
+check that your help page looks right.
+
+You can also check that the documentation coverage is good (that is, the project
+sees that your command has been implemented as well as documented) by running
+`make check-docs` from the top-level.
+
+Go ahead and commit your new documentation change.
+
+=== Adding Usage Text
+
+Try and run `./bin-wrappers/git psuh -h`. Your command should crash at the end.
+That's because `-h` is a special case which your command should handle by
+printing usage.
+
+Take a look at `Documentation/technical/api-parse-options.txt`. This is a handy
+tool for pulling out options you need to be able to handle, and it takes a
+usage string.
+
+In order to use it, we'll need to prepare a NULL-terminated usage string and a
+`builtin_psuh_options` array. Add a line to `#include "parse-options.h"`.
+
+At global scope, add your usage:
+
+----
+static const char * const psuh_usage[] = {
+	N_("git psuh"),
+	NULL,
+};
+----
+
+Then, within your `cmd_psuh()` implementation, we can declare and populate our
+`option` struct. Ours is pretty boring but you can add more to it if you want to
+explore `parse_options()` in more detail:
+
+----
+	struct option options[] = {
+		OPT_END()
+	};
+----
+
+Finally, before you print your args and prefix, add the call to
+`parse-options()`:
+
+----
+	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, psuh_usage, 0);
+----
+
+This call will modify your `argv` parameter. It will strip the options you
+specified in `options` from `argv` and the locations pointed to from `options`
+entries will be updated. Be sure to replace your `argc` with the result from
+`parse_options()`, or you will be confused if you try to parse `argv` later.
+
+It's worth noting the special argument `--`. As you may be aware, many Unix
+commands use `--` to indicate "end of named parameters" - all parameters after
+the `--` are interpreted merely as positional arguments. (This can be handy if
+you want to pass as a parameter something which would usually be interpreted as
+a flag.) `parse_options()` will terminate parsing when it reaches `--` and give
+you the rest of the options afterwards, untouched.
+
+Build again. Now, when you run with `-h`, you should see your usage printed and
+your command terminated before anything else interesting happens. Great!
+
+Go ahead and commit this one, too.
+
+== Testing
+
+It's important to test your code - even for a little toy command like this one.
+Moreover, your patch won't be accepted into the Git tree without tests. Your
+tests should:
+
+* Illustrate the current behavior of the feature
+* Prove the current behavior matches the expected behavior
+* Ensure the externally-visible behavior isn't broken in later changes
+
+So let's write some tests.
+
+Related reading: `t/README`
+
+=== Overview of Testing Structure
+
+The tests in Git live in `t/` and are named with a 4-digit decimal number using
+the schema shown in the Naming Tests section of `t/README`.
+
+=== Writing Your Test
+
+Since this a toy command, let's go ahead and name the test with t9999. However,
+as many of the family/subcmd combinations are full, best practice seems to be
+to find a command close enough to the one you've added and share its naming
+space.
+
+Create a new file `t/t9999-psuh-tutorial.sh`. Begin with the header as so (see
+"Writing Tests" and "Source 'test-lib.sh'" in `t/README`):
+
+----
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='git-psuh test
+
+This test runs git-psuh and makes sure it does not crash.'
+
+. ./test-lib.sh
+----
+
+Tests are framed inside of a `test_expect_success` in order to output TAP
+formatted results. Let's make sure that `git psuh` doesn't exit poorly and does
+mention the right animal somewhere:
+
+----
+test_expect_success 'runs correctly with no args and good output' '
+	git psuh >actual &&
+	test_i18ngrep Pony actual
+'
+----
+
+Indicate that you've run everything you wanted by adding the following at the
+bottom of your script:
+
+----
+test_done
+----
+
+Make sure you mark your test script executable:
+
+----
+$ chmod +x t/t9999-psuh-tutorial.sh
+----
+
+You can get an idea of whether you created your new test script successfully
+by running `make -C t test-lint`, which will check for things like test number
+uniqueness, executable bit, and so on.
+
+=== Running Locally
+
+Let's try and run locally:
+
+----
+$ make
+$ cd t/ && prove t9999-psuh-tutorial.sh
+----
+
+You can run the full test suite and ensure `git-psuh` didn't break anything:
+
+----
+$ cd t/
+$ prove -j$(nproc) --shuffle t[0-9]*.sh
+----
+
+NOTE: You can also do this with `make test` or use any testing harness which can
+speak TAP. `prove` can run concurrently. `shuffle` randomizes the order the
+tests are run in, which makes them resilient against unwanted inter-test
+dependencies. `prove` also makes the output nicer.
+
+Go ahead and commit this change, as well.
+
+== Getting Ready to Share
+
+You may have noticed already that the Git project performs its code reviews via
+emailed patches, which are then applied by the maintainer when they are ready
+and approved by the community. The Git project does not accept patches from
+pull requests, and the patches emailed for review need to be formatted a
+specific way. At this point the tutorial diverges, in order to demonstrate two
+different methods of formatting your patchset and getting it reviewed.
+
+The first method to be covered is GitGitGadget, which is useful for those
+already familiar with GitHub's common pull request workflow. This method
+requires a GitHub account.
+
+The second method to be covered is `git send-email`, which can give slightly
+more fine-grained control over the emails to be sent. This method requires some
+setup which can change depending on your system and will not be covered in this
+tutorial.
+
+Regardless of which method you choose, your engagement with reviewers will be
+the same; the review process will be covered after the sections on GitGitGadget
+and `git send-email`.
+
+== Sending Patches via GitGitGadget
+
+One option for sending patches is to follow a typical pull request workflow and
+send your patches out via GitGitGadget. GitGitGadget is a tool created by
+Johannes Schindelin to make life as a Git contributor easier for those used to
+the GitHub PR workflow. It allows contributors to open pull requests against its
+mirror of the Git project, and does some magic to turn the PR into a set of
+emails and send them out for you. It also runs the Git continuous integration
+suite for you. It's documented at http://gitgitgadget.github.io.
+
+=== Forking `git/git` on GitHub
+
+Before you can send your patch off to be reviewed using GitGitGadget, you will
+need to fork the Git project and upload your changes. First thing - make sure
+you have a GitHub account.
+
+Head to the https://github.com/git/git[GitHub mirror] and look for the Fork
+button. Place your fork wherever you deem appropriate and create it.
+
+=== Uploading to Your Own Fork
+
+To upload your branch to your own fork, you'll need to add the new fork as a
+remote. You can use `git remote -v` to show the remotes you have added already.
+From your new fork's page on GitHub, you can press "Clone or download" to get
+the URL; then you need to run the following to add, replacing your own URL and
+remote name for the examples provided:
+
+----
+$ git remote add remotename git@github.com:remotename/git.git
+----
+
+or to use the HTTPS URL:
+
+----
+$ git remote add remotename https://github.com/remotename/git/.git
+----
+
+Run `git remote -v` again and you should see the new remote showing up.
+`git fetch remotename` (with the real name of your remote replaced) in order to
+get ready to push.
+
+Next, double-check that you've been doing all your development in a new branch
+by running `git branch`. If you didn't, now is a good time to move your new
+commits to their own branch.
+
+As mentioned briefly at the beginning of this document, we are basing our work
+on `master`, so go ahead and update as shown below, or using your preferred
+workflow.
+
+----
+$ git checkout master
+$ git pull -r
+$ git rebase master psuh
+----
+
+Finally, you're ready to push your new topic branch! (Due to our branch and
+command name choices, be careful when you type the command below.)
+
+----
+$ git push remotename psuh
+----
+
+Now you should be able to go and check out your newly created branch on GitHub.
+
+=== Sending a PR to GitGitGadget
+
+In order to have your code tested and formatted for review, you need to start by
+opening a Pull Request against `gitgitgadget/git`. Head to
+https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git and open a PR either with the "New pull
+request" button or the convenient "Compare & pull request" button that may
+appear with the name of your newly pushed branch.
+
+Review the PR's title and description, as it's used by GitGitGadget as the cover
+letter for your change. When you're happy, submit your pull request.
+
+=== Running CI and Getting Ready to Send
+
+If it's your first time using GitGitGadget (which is likely, as you're using
+this tutorial) then someone will need to give you permission to use the tool.
+As mentioned in the GitGitGadget documentation, you just need someone who
+already uses it to comment on your PR with `/allow <username>`. GitGitGadget
+will automatically run your PRs through the CI even without the permission given
+but you will not be able to `/submit` your changes until someone allows you to
+use the tool.
+
+If the CI fails, you can update your changes with `git rebase -i` and push your
+branch again:
+
+----
+$ git push -f remotename psuh
+----
+
+In fact, you should continue to make changes this way up until the point when
+your patch is accepted into `next`.
+
+////
+TODO https://github.com/gitgitgadget/gitgitgadget/issues/83
+It'd be nice to be able to verify that the patch looks good before sending it
+to everyone on Git mailing list.
+=== Check Your Work
+////
+
+=== Sending Your Patches
+
+Now that your CI is passing and someone has granted you permission to use
+GitGitGadget with the `/allow` command, sending out for review is as simple as
+commenting on your PR with `/submit`.
+
+=== Updating With Comments
+
+Skip ahead to <<reviewing,Responding to Reviews>> for information on how to
+reply to review comments you will receive on the mailing list.
+
+Once you have your branch again in the shape you want following all review
+comments, you can submit again:
+
+----
+$ git push -f remotename psuh
+----
+
+Next, go look at your pull request against GitGitGadget; you should see the CI
+has been kicked off again. Now while the CI is running is a good time for you
+to modify your description at the top of the pull request thread; it will be
+used again as the cover letter. You should use this space to describe what
+has changed since your previous version, so that your reviewers have some idea
+of what they're looking at. When the CI is done running, you can comment once
+more with `/submit` - GitGitGadget will automatically add a v2 mark to your
+changes.
+
+== Sending Patches with `git send-email`
+
+If you don't want to use GitGitGadget, you can also use Git itself to mail your
+patches. Some benefits of using Git this way include finer grained control of
+subject line (for example, being able to use the tag [RFC PATCH] in the subject)
+and being able to send a ``dry run'' mail to yourself to ensure it all looks
+good before going out to the list.
+
+=== Prerequisite: Setting Up `git send-email`
+
+Configuration for `send-email` can vary based on your operating system and email
+provider, and so will not be covered in this tutorial, beyond stating that in
+many distributions of Linux, `git-send-email` is not packaged alongside the
+typical `git` install. You may need to install this additional package; there
+are a number of resources online to help you do so. You will also need to
+determine the right way to configure it to use your SMTP server; again, as this
+configuration can change significantly based on your system and email setup, it
+is out of scope for the context of this tutorial.
+
+=== Preparing Initial Patchset
+
+Sending emails with Git is a two-part process; before you can prepare the emails
+themselves, you'll need to prepare the patches. Luckily, this is pretty simple:
+
+----
+$ git format-patch --cover-letter -o psuh/ master..psuh
+----
+
+The `--cover-letter` parameter tells `format-patch` to create a cover letter
+template for you. You will need to fill in the template before you're ready
+to send - but for now, the template will be next to your other patches.
+
+The `-o psuh/` parameter tells `format-patch` to place the patch files into a
+directory. This is useful because `git send-email` can take a directory and
+send out all the patches from there.
+
+`master..psuh` tells `format-patch` to generate patches for the difference
+between `master` and `psuh`. It will make one patch file per commit. After you
+run, you can go have a look at each of the patches with your favorite text
+editor and make sure everything looks alright; however, it's not recommended to
+make code fixups via the patch file. It's a better idea to make the change the
+normal way using `git rebase -i` or by adding a new commit than by modifying a
+patch.
+
+NOTE: Optionally, you can also use the `--rfc` flag to prefix your patch subject
+with ``[RFC PATCH]'' instead of ``[PATCH]''. RFC stands for ``request for
+comments'' and indicates that while your code isn't quite ready for submission,
+you'd like to begin the code review process. This can also be used when your
+patch is a proposal, but you aren't sure whether the community wants to solve
+the problem with that approach or not - to conduct a sort of design review. You
+may also see on the list patches marked ``WIP'' - this means they are incomplete
+but want reviewers to look at what they have so far. You can add this flag with
+`--subject-prefix=WIP`.
+
+Check and make sure that your patches and cover letter template exist in the
+directory you specified - you're nearly ready to send out your review!
+
+=== Preparing Email
+
+In addition to an email per patch, the Git community also expects your patches
+to come with a cover letter, typically with a subject line [PATCH 0/x] (where
+x is the number of patches you're sending). Since you invoked `format-patch`
+with `--cover-letter`, you've already got a template ready. Open it up in your
+favorite editor.
+
+You should see a number of headers present already. Check that your `From:`
+header is correct. Then modify your `Subject:` to something which succinctly
+covers the purpose of your entire topic branch, for example:
+
+----
+Subject: [PATCH 0/7] adding the 'psuh' command
+----
+
+Make sure you retain the ``[PATCH 0/X]'' part; that's what indicates to the Git
+community that this email is the beginning of a review, and many reviewers
+filter their email for this type of flag.
+
+You'll need to add some extra parameters when you invoke `git send-email` to add
+the cover letter.
+
+Next you'll have to fill out the body of your cover letter. This is an important
+component of change submission as it explains to the community from a high level
+what you're trying to do, and why, in a way that's more apparent than just
+looking at your diff. Be sure to explain anything your diff doesn't make clear
+on its own.
+
+Here's an example body for `psuh`:
+
+----
+Our internal metrics indicate widespread interest in the command
+git-psuh - that is, many users are trying to use it, but finding it is
+unavailable, using some unknown workaround instead.
+
+The following handful of patches add the psuh command and implement some
+handy features on top of it.
+
+This patchset is part of the MyFirstContribution tutorial and should not
+be merged.
+----
+
+The template created by `git format-patch --cover-letter` includes a diffstat.
+This gives reviewers a summary of what they're in for when reviewing your topic.
+The one generated for `psuh` from the sample implementation looks like this:
+
+----
+ Documentation/git-psuh.txt | 40 +++++++++++++++++++++
+ Makefile                   |  1 +
+ builtin.h                  |  1 +
+ builtin/psuh.c             | 73 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ git.c                      |  1 +
+ t/t9999-psuh-tutorial.sh   | 12 +++++++
+ 6 files changed, 128 insertions(+)
+ create mode 100644 Documentation/git-psuh.txt
+ create mode 100644 builtin/psuh.c
+ create mode 100755 t/t9999-psuh-tutorial.sh
+----
+
+Finally, the letter will include the version of Git used to generate the
+patches. You can leave that string alone.
+
+=== Sending Email
+
+At this point you should have a directory `psuh/` which is filled with your
+patches and a cover letter. Time to mail it out! You can send it like this:
+
+----
+$ git send-email --to=target@example.com psuh/*.patch
+----
+
+NOTE: Check `git help send-email` for some other options which you may find
+valuable, such as changing the Reply-to address or adding more CC and BCC lines.
+
+NOTE: When you are sending a real patch, it will go to git@vger.kernel.org - but
+please don't send your patchset from the tutorial to the real mailing list! For
+now, you can send it to yourself, to make sure you understand how it will look.
+
+After you run the command above, you will be presented with an interactive
+prompt for each patch that's about to go out. This gives you one last chance to
+edit or quit sending something (but again, don't edit code this way). Once you
+press `y` or `a` at these prompts your emails will be sent! Congratulations!
+
+Awesome, now the community will drop everything and review your changes. (Just
+kidding - be patient!)
+
+=== Sending v2
+
+Skip ahead to <<reviewing,Responding to Reviews>> for information on how to
+handle comments from reviewers. Continue this section when your topic branch is
+shaped the way you want it to look for your patchset v2.
+
+When you're ready with the next iteration of your patch, the process is fairly
+similar.
+
+First, generate your v2 patches again:
+
+----
+$ git format-patch -v2 --cover-letter -o psuh/ master..psuh
+----
+
+This will add your v2 patches, all named like `v2-000n-my-commit-subject.patch`,
+to the `psuh/` directory. You may notice that they are sitting alongside the v1
+patches; that's fine, but be careful when you are ready to send them.
+
+Edit your cover letter again. Now is a good time to mention what's different
+between your last version and now, if it's something significant. You do not
+need the exact same body in your second cover letter; focus on explaining to
+reviewers the changes you've made that may not be as visible.
+
+You will also need to go and find the Message-Id of your previous cover letter.
+You can either note it when you send the first series, from the output of `git
+send-email`, or you can look it up on the
+https://public-inbox.org/git[mailing list]. Find your cover letter in the
+archives, click on it, then click "permalink" or "raw" to reveal the Message-Id
+header. It should match:
+
+----
+Message-Id: <foo.12345.author@example.com>
+----
+
+Your Message-Id is `<foo.12345.author@example.com>`. This example will be used
+below as well; make sure to replace it with the correct Message-Id for your
+**previous cover letter** - that is, if you're sending v2, use the Message-Id
+from v1; if you're sending v3, use the Message-Id from v2.
+
+While you're looking at the email, you should also note who is CC'd, as it's
+common practice in the mailing list to keep all CCs on a thread. You can add
+these CC lines directly to your cover letter with a line like so in the header
+(before the Subject line):
+
+----
+CC: author@example.com, Othe R <other@example.com>
+----
+
+Now send the emails again, paying close attention to which messages you pass in
+to the command:
+
+----
+$ git send-email --to=target@example.com
+		 --in-reply-to="<foo.12345.author@example.com>"
+		 psuh/v2*
+----
+
+=== Bonus Chapter: One-Patch Changes
+
+In some cases, your very small change may consist of only one patch. When that
+happens, you only need to send one email. Your commit message should already be
+meaningful and explain at a high level the purpose (what is happening and why)
+of your patch, but if you need to supply even more context, you can do so below
+the `---` in your patch. Take the example below, which was generated with `git
+format-patch` on a single commit, and then edited to add the content between
+the `---` and the diffstat.
+
+----
+From 1345bbb3f7ac74abde040c12e737204689a72723 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: A U Thor <author@example.com>
+Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2019 15:11:02 -0700
+Subject: [PATCH] README: change the grammar
+
+I think it looks better this way. This part of the commit message will
+end up in the commit-log.
+
+Signed-off-by: A U Thor <author@example.com>
+---
+Let's have a wild discussion about grammar on the mailing list. This
+part of my email will never end up in the commit log. Here is where I
+can add additional context to the mailing list about my intent, outside
+of the context of the commit log. This section was added after `git
+format-patch` was run, by editing the patch file in a text editor.
+
+ README.md | 2 +-
+ 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
+
+diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
+index 88f126184c..38da593a60 100644
+--- a/README.md
++++ b/README.md
+@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
+ Git - fast, scalable, distributed revision control system
+ =========================================================
+
+-Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
++Git is a fast, scalable, and distributed revision control system with an
+ unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
+ and full access to internals.
+
+--
+2.21.0.392.gf8f6787159e-goog
+----
+
+== My Patch Got Emailed - Now What?
+
+[[reviewing]]
+=== Responding to Reviews
+
+After a few days, you will hopefully receive a reply to your patchset with some
+comments. Woohoo! Now you can get back to work.
+
+It's good manners to reply to each comment, notifying the reviewer that you have
+made the change requested, feel the original is better, or that the comment
+inspired you to do something a new way which is superior to both the original
+and the suggested change. This way reviewers don't need to inspect your v2 to
+figure out whether you implemented their comment or not.
+
+If you are going to push back on a comment, be polite and explain why you feel
+your original is better; be prepared that the reviewer may still disagree with
+you, and the rest of the community may weigh in on one side or the other. As
+with all code reviews, it's important to keep an open mind to doing something a
+different way than you originally planned; other reviewers have a different
+perspective on the project than you do, and may be thinking of a valid side
+effect which had not occurred to you. It is always okay to ask for clarification
+if you aren't sure why a change was suggested, or what the reviewer is asking
+you to do.
+
+Make sure your email client has a plaintext email mode and it is turned on; the
+Git list rejects HTML email. Please also follow the mailing list etiquette
+outlined in the
+https://kernel.googlesource.com/pub/scm/git/git/+/todo/MaintNotes[Maintainer's
+Note], which are similar to etiquette rules in most open source communities
+surrounding bottom-posting and inline replies.
+
+When you're making changes to your code, it is cleanest - that is, the resulting
+commits are easiest to look at - if you use `git rebase -i` (interactive
+rebase). Take a look at this
+https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/git-pocket-guide/9781449327507/ch10.html[overview]
+from O'Reilly. The general idea is to modify each commit which requires changes;
+this way, instead of having a patch A with a mistake, a patch B which was fine
+and required no upstream reviews in v1, and a patch C which fixes patch A for
+v2, you can just ship a v2 with a correct patch A and correct patch B. This is
+changing history, but since it's local history which you haven't shared with
+anyone, that is okay for now! (Later, it may not make sense to do this; take a
+look at the section below this one for some context.)
+
+=== After Review Approval
+
+The Git project has four integration branches: `pu`, `next`, `master`, and
+`maint`. Your change will be placed into `pu` fairly early on by the maintainer
+while it is still in the review process; from there, when it is ready for wider
+testing, it will be merged into `next`. Plenty of early testers use `next` and
+may report issues. Eventually, changes in `next` will make it to `master`,
+which is typically considered stable. Finally, when a new release is cut,
+`maint` is used to base bugfixes onto. As mentioned at the beginning of this
+document, you can read `Documents/SubmittingPatches` for some more info about
+the use of the various integration branches.
+
+Back to now: your code has been lauded by the upstream reviewers. It is perfect.
+It is ready to be accepted. You don't need to do anything else; the maintainer
+will merge your topic branch to `next` and life is good.
+
+However, if you discover it isn't so perfect after this point, you may need to
+take some special steps depending on where you are in the process.
+
+If the maintainer has announced in the "What's cooking in git.git" email that
+your topic is marked for `next` - that is, that they plan to merge it to `next`
+but have not yet done so - you should send an email asking the maintainer to
+wait a little longer: "I've sent v4 of my series and you marked it for `next`,
+but I need to change this and that - please wait for v5 before you merge it."
+
+If the topic has already been merged to `next`, rather than modifying your
+patches with `git rebase -i`, you should make further changes incrementally -
+that is, with another commit, based on top of the maintainer's topic branch as
+detailed in https://github.com/gitster/git. Your work is still in the same topic
+but is now incremental, rather than a wholesale rewrite of the topic branch.
+
+The topic branches in the maintainer's GitHub are mirrored in GitGitGadget, so
+if you're sending your reviews out that way, you should be sure to open your PR
+against the appropriate GitGitGadget/Git branch.
+
+If you're using `git send-email`, you can use it the same way as before, but you
+should generate your diffs from `<topic>..<mybranch>` and base your work on
+`<topic>` instead of `master`.