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

"Easy to understand" means also:

• commits representing not just "checkpoint" (like they would if you committed after each file modification), but a coherent state of the code
• easy to git bisect (ie each commit should represent a change in a task, which compiles and add an evolution or a new feature, and not a "checkpoint commit", which would make the git bisect fails way too soon)

See "understanding the Git workflow" for more: you need to differentiate:

• private branches (that you never push), where you can commit basically at any time, and
• public branches (that you will push on GitHub), which needs to be clean-up and have meaningful commits.

So pay attention to the "fast-forward" merge that Git uses by default: don't forget to clean-up the history of branches you are about to merge that way into public branches.