HACKER Q&A
📣 samuelstros

How would you describe a commit?


Assume that you are introducing the concept of version control and committing to a non-dev audience; how would you describe what a commit does?


  👤 ilkhan4 Accepted Answer ✓
I would describe it as a stopping point, or a chunk of work that represents a finished step (however you define a step).

👤 pipesorter
People are familiar with Draft (email or blog) state and Send or Publish state. I would go with email analogy. So I would describe commit similar to sending an email after drafting in a thread. Here I also could undo anytime and make it a draft. Similar to forward I can clone a thread (branch out?).

👤 samuelstros
Things we discussed:

- a commit is somewhat a 'save' but unlike a 'final_v1.docx'

- a commit prevents changes from being overwritten


👤 PaulHoule
Like taking a snapshot with a camera?