[Python-Dev] Commit changelog: issue number and merges

[Benjamin Peterson]

2011/5/9 Victor Stinner <victor.stinner at haypocalc.com>:
> Hi,
>
> Commit changelogs are important to understand why the code was changed.
> I regulary use hg blame to search which commit introduced a particular
> line of code, and I am always happy if I can find an issue number
> because it usually contains the whole story.
>
> And since the migration to Mercurial, we have also a great tool adding a
> comment to an issue if the changelog contains an issue number (e.g.
> changelog starting with "Issue #118888: ..."). So if someone watchs an
> issue (is in the nosy list), (s)he will be noticed that a related commit
> was pushed. It is not exactly something new: we already do that with
> Subversion except that today it is more automatic.
>
> I noticed that some recent commits don't contain the issue number:
> please try to always prefix your changelog with the issue number. It is
> not "mandatory", but it helps me when I dig the Python history.
>
> --
>
> For merge commits: many developers just write "merge" or "merge 3.1". I
> have to go to the parent commit (and something to the grandparent,
> 3.1->3.2->3.3) to learn more about the commit.

I thought the whole point of merging was that you brought a changeset
from one branch to another. This why I just write "merge" because
otherwise you're technically duplicating information that is pulled
onto the branch by merging.

It seems like something that should be solved by tools like a display
visual graph indicating what is merged. (like Bazaar)



-- 
Regards,
Benjamin