Git commit style: All changed files at once or one at a time?

Question

I am saving my work at night with a single commit for many files. I wonder if it would be better to commit for each file but this seems like a lot more work.

I have

Answer 1

When to commit and what to commit is an art, and there are no black-and-white rules. That being said, there are habits that are easier to understand than others.

In general, I think you should optimize your commits for understandability - if you go back and read the diff for the commit, can you figure out what you accomplished in the changes?

If you want to be more specific, here's a long list of what I think are do's and don'ts:

• Don't commit after every single little change - every line changed, every file changed, etc.
• Don't work for an entire day and make one gigantic commit at the end of the day.
• Do separate out commits for different features - e.g. developing feature foo vs. fixing bug #2.
• Do a separate commit for moving/renaming files, because it's easier for Git to track this way.
• Do think about optimizing for revertability: If you dislike a change that you made, is it easy to undo it even after new changes have been piled on top?