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| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/CodingGuidelines | 7 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/SubmittingPatches | 36 |
2 files changed, 43 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines index 0e27b5395d..c37c43186e 100644 --- a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines +++ b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines @@ -26,6 +26,13 @@ code. For Git in general, a few rough rules are: go and fix it up." Cf. http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1001.3/01069.html + - Log messages to explain your changes are as important as the + changes themselves. Clearly written code and in-code comments + explain how the code works and what is assumed from the surrounding + context. The log messages explain what the changes wanted to + achieve and why the changes were necessary (more on this in the + accompanying SubmittingPatches document). + Make your code readable and sensible, and don't try to be clever. As for more concrete guidelines, just imitate the existing code diff --git a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches index 92b80d94d4..a6121d1d42 100644 --- a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches +++ b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches @@ -110,6 +110,35 @@ run `git diff --check` on your changes before you commit. [[describe-changes]] === Describe your changes well. +The log message that explains your changes is just as important as the +changes themselves. Your code may be clearly written with in-code +comment to sufficiently explain how it works with the surrounding +code, but those who need to fix or enhance your code in the future +will need to know _why_ your code does what it does, for a few +reasons: + +. Your code may be doing something differently from what you wanted it + to do. Writing down what you actually wanted to achieve will help + them fix your code and make it do what it should have been doing + (also, you often discover your own bugs yourself, while writing the + log message to summarize the thought behind it). + +. Your code may be doing things that were only necessary for your + immediate needs (e.g. "do X to directories" without implementing or + even designing what is to be done on files). Writing down why you + excluded what the code does not do will help guide future developers. + Writing down "we do X to directories, because directories have + characteristic Y" would help them infer "oh, files also have the same + characteristic Y, so perhaps doing X to them would also make sense?". + Saying "we don't do the same X to files, because ..." will help them + decide if the reasoning is sound (in which case they do not waste + time extending your code to cover files), or reason differently (in + which case, they can explain why they extend your code to cover + files, too). + +The goal of your log message is to convey the _why_ behind your +change to help future developers. + The first line of the commit message should be a short description (50 characters is the soft limit, see DISCUSSION in linkgit:git-commit[1]), and should skip the full stop. It is also conventional in most cases to @@ -142,6 +171,13 @@ The body should provide a meaningful commit message, which: . alternate solutions considered but discarded, if any. +[[present-tense]] +The problem statement that describes the status quo is written in the +present tense. Write "The code does X when it is given input Y", +instead of "The code used to do Y when given input X". You do not +have to say "Currently"---the status quo in the problem statement is +about the code _without_ your change, by project convention. + [[imperative-mood]] Describe your changes in imperative mood, e.g. "make xyzzy do frotz" instead of "[This patch] makes xyzzy do frotz" or "[I] changed xyzzy |