MCQ: Making a git commit

Feb 12, 2014 • Jessica Hamrick

Pre-assessment question:

When you run git status, you see the following output:

` $ git status

On branch master

Changes to be committed:

(use “git reset HEAD ..." to unstage)

#

modified: A.txt

modified: B.txt

#

Changes not staged for commit:

(use “git add ..." to update what will be committed)

(use “git checkout – ..." to discard changes in working directory)

#

modified: C.txt

#
`

You want to make a commit that includes the changes to A.txt and C.txt, but not B.txt. In order to accomplish this, which command(s) should you run?

I. git add C.txt
II. git reset HEAD B.txt
III. git checkout -- B.txt
IV. git commit

a) I, II, IV
b) I, III, IV
c) I, IV
d) II, IV
e) III, IV
f) IV

Post-lesson question:

You accidentally added all your changes with git add ., and when you run git status, you see the following output:

` $ git status

On branch master

Changes to be committed:

(use “git reset HEAD ..." to unstage)

#

modified: A.txt

modified: B.txt

modified: C.txt

#
`

If you wanted to commit the only changes to A.txt, and to discard completely the changes to C.txt (but not B.txt), which commands do you need to run and in what order?

I. git checkout -- B.txt
II. git checkout -- C.txt
III. git reset HEAD B.txt
IV. git reset HEAD C.txt
V. git commit

a) I, II, III, IV, V
b) I, II, IV, V
c) I, IV, V
d) II, III, V
e) III, IV, I, II, V
f) III, IV, II, V

Thoughts…

I had a hard time figuring out different pre vs. post lesson questions. I think with this particular task of making a commit, it is difficult to make the distinction between an expert-or-novice question and a did-you-learn-it question, at least with multiple choice. Ultimately I think the post lesson question is a little more difficult because there is less information provided by git status, so it perhaps more appropriate to gauge knowledge after a lesson.

EDIT: Oops, forgot to include a short exercise!

You see the following command line output:

` $ git status

On branch master

Changes not staged for commit:

(use “git add …” to update what will be committed)

(use “git checkout – …” to discard changes in working directory)

#

modified: A.txt

modified: B.txt

modified: C.txt

#
no changes added to commit (use “git add” and/or “git commit -a”)
$ git add .

$ git checkout – B.txt
$ git commit -m “this is a commit”
[master ad31542] this is a commit
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
$ git status

On branch master

Changes not staged for commit:

(use “git add …” to update what will be committed)

(use “git checkout – …” to discard changes in working directory)

#

modified: A.txt

#
no changes added to commit (use “git add” and/or “git commit -a”)
`

Fill in the missing command(s) where the ... is.