Plan Your Commits

The author says they often forget to commit while coding and end up with one large commit instead of smaller, logical ones. The fix they found is to decide the next commit point before writing code.

Planning checkpoints in advance, such as after finishing a function or hooking up URL routing, makes it easier to stop, commit, and review progress. It also helps when returning to a project after a few days, because more of the work is already written down.

Reading notes

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• Commits should be meaningful, logical chunks of work that tell a story in aggregate.
• A common problem is getting absorbed in coding and forgetting to commit at all.
• Preselecting the checkpoint helps the author forget less.
• Naming the next commit target in advance makes it easier to commit and check current progress.
• This approach reduces the need to keep everything in mind.
• It also helps when coming back to a project after leaving it for a while.
• The author asks readers to share other tricks for remembering commits.