How To Squash Commits In Git A Guide For Together-100Devs

In the collaborative world of software development, maintaining a clean and concise commit history is paramount. For the Together-100Devs community, adhering to best practices not only streamlines the development process but also ensures clarity and ease of review. One such practice is squashing commits before merging a pull request (PR). This comprehensive guide will walk you through the importance of squashing commits and provide step-by-step instructions on how to do it effectively, specifically tailored for our development workflow.

Why Squash Commits?

Before diving into the how, let's understand the why. Squashing commits, in essence, is the process of consolidating multiple commits into a single, coherent commit. This offers several key advantages:

• Clean Commit History: Imagine a project's commit history as a narrative. A clean history tells a clear story of the project's evolution, making it easier to understand the changes introduced at each stage. Squashing related commits ensures that each commit represents a logical unit of change, rather than a series of incremental steps.
• Simplified Code Review: Reviewing a pull request with numerous small commits can be cumbersome. Each commit may represent a minor tweak or fix, making it difficult for reviewers to grasp the overall scope and impact of the changes. Squashing commits allows reviewers to focus on the final, cohesive set of changes, leading to more efficient and effective reviews.
• Easier Rollbacks: In the unfortunate event that a change needs to be reverted, a clean commit history makes the process significantly easier. With squashed commits, each commit represents a distinct feature or fix, making it simpler to identify and revert specific changes without affecting other parts of the codebase.
• Improved Collaboration: A clean commit history fosters better collaboration among developers. When the history is clear and concise, it's easier for developers to understand the project's evolution, track down bugs, and contribute effectively.

For Together-100Devs, squashing commits aligns perfectly with our commitment to high-quality code and efficient collaboration. By presenting a clean and well-organized commit history, we ensure that our codebase remains maintainable and understandable for everyone involved.

When to Squash Commits

The ideal time to squash commits is typically before merging a pull request. During the development process, it's natural to make multiple commits as you iterate on your code, fix bugs, and address feedback. However, before submitting your PR for review, it's crucial to consolidate these commits into a single, logical unit of change.

Consider these scenarios where squashing commits is particularly beneficial:

• Fixing Typos and Minor Errors: If you've made commits solely to fix typos, formatting issues, or other minor errors, these should be squashed into the relevant feature commit. There's no need to clutter the history with these small fixes.
• Addressing Code Review Feedback: When incorporating feedback from code reviews, it's often best to squash the changes into the original commit. This keeps the history clean and avoids a series of commits that simply address review comments.
• Work in Progress Commits: During development, you might make commits to save your progress or experiment with different approaches. These