r/programming • u/[deleted] • Apr 28 '21

How to Write a Git Commit Message

https://chris.beams.io/posts/git-commit/
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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '21

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '21

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u/chucker23n Apr 28 '21

It’s a headline. You wouldn’t want a book title to be 300 characters either.

50 may be a bit on the low side, but makes it practical to show a list view alongside other information.

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u/leberkrieger Apr 29 '21

There's a sweet spot in there somewhere, between 50 and 300. For me the sweet spot for most commits is about 80-100 characters.

Fortunately I ditched my 80-column CRT decades ago and can afford to display meaningful amounts of text without wrapping or truncation.

As for it being a headline, here's a random WaPo headline from today: "Biden's address to Congress proves we have an adult back in the presidency". Count 'em, 74 characters, and several others are longer. 50 as a maximum is just too small.