Git Bisect

As developers, we use Git every day, but how many of you are familiar with the "git bisect" command?

If you are, please comment below and let me know how you first learned about it. However, if you aren't familiar with it, don't worry—I've got you covered.

Imagine you have a substantial project, like a puzzle, and somewhere along the way, a sneaky bug sneaks into your code. But you have no idea where it came from. ??

Here comes Git Bisect to the rescue! ?? It's like a smart detective that assists you in finding the puzzle piece responsible for the bug.

Here's how it works:

Start Point: You instruct Git Bisect to mark where the bug is now (e.g., the current commit), saying, "Hey, this version has a bug." That's your starting point.

End Point: You also specify where you're certain the bug wasn't present (e.g., the last 5th commit), like an older version where everything was working fine. This is your endpoint.

Middle Ground: Git Bisect then selects a point somewhere in between—a checkpoint (e.g., the last 3rd commit).

Check for Bug: Now you test this checkpoint (e.g., the last 3rd commit) to see if it contains the bug. If it does, you tell Git Bisect, "Yes, the bug is here." If not, you say, "Nope, the bug didn't cause trouble."

Repeat: Git Bisect listens to you and moves to another checkpoint, again in the middle of the points where you're sure the bug was and wasn't. You keep repeating the testing. (If the last 3rd commit is good, then it will check something between the last 3rd and the current commit.)

Gradually, Git Bisect gets closer and closer to the exact puzzle piece where the bug was introduced. It keeps dividing the range of versions in half, narrowing down the suspects until it pinpoints the commit (the piece of code) that introduced the bug. ???♀?

If you're familiar with the Binary Search Algorithm, this is a great example of it's usage.

In simple terms, Git Bisect is like a super helpful assistant that aids you in finding the precise commit when a bug was introduced into your code. This makes it much easier to fix and maintain a smoothly running project. ????

Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/ef6hEFfa