An Illustrated Guide to Git on Windows

Viewing History

The main.c file is starting to get a bit big, so I decided to move the user prompting portion of the code into its own function. While I was at it, I decided to move the function into a separate file. The repository now contains the files main.c, askname.c, and askname.h.

/* main.c */
#include <stdio.h>

#include "askname.h"

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
	char first[255], last[255];

	askname(first, last);

	printf("Hello, %s %s!\n", first, last);
 	return 0;
}

/* askname.c */
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

void askname(char *first, char *last)
{
	printf("Enter your first name: ");
	fgets(first, 255, stdin);
	first[strlen(first)-1] = '\0'; /* remove the newline at the end */

	printf("Now enter your last name: ");
	gets(last); /* buffer overflow? what's that? */
}

/* askname.h */
void askname(char *first, char *last);

The history of the repository can be viewed and searched by choosing Repository → Visualize All Branch History. In the next screenshot, I am trying to find which commit added the last variable by searching for all commits which added or removed the word last. Commits which match the search are bolded, making it quick and easy to spot the desired commit.

A few days later, someone looks through our code and sees that the gets function could cause a buffer overflow. Being the type to point fingers, this person decides to run a git blame to see who last modified this line of code. The problem is that Bob is the one who committed the line, but I was the one who last touched it when I moved the line into a different file. Obviously, I am not to blame (of course). Is git smart enough to figure this out? Yes, it is.

To run a blame, select Repository → Browse master's Files. From the tree that pops up, double click on the file with the line in question which in this case is askname.c. Hovering the mouse over the line in question shows a tooltip message that tells us all we need to know.

Here we can see that the line was last modified by Bob in commit f6c0, and then I moved it to its new location in commit b312.