Git in 2016

Git had a huge year in 2016, with five feature releases (v2.7 through v2.11) and sixteen patch releases. 189 authors contributed 3,676 commits to master, which is up 15% over 2015! In total, 1,545 files were changed with 276,799 lines added and 100,973 lines removed.

However, commit counts and LOC are pretty terrible ways to measure productivity. Please don't use the commands in the footnotes to rate the performance of your team! Until deep learning develops to the point where it can qualitatively grok code, we're going to be stuck with human judgment as the arbiter of productivity.

With that in mind, I've written a short series of articles covering enhancements made over the year to six of my favorite Git features. I'm calling it The Git 2016 Retrospective, which is a bit of a grand title; it's really just a collection of new options and features and how to use them. If such things interest you, read on:

• Rounding out the git worktree command.
• Experimental algorithms and better defaults for git diff.
• Dramatic performance boosts for git lfs.
• More convenient git rebase options.
• git submodules with less suck.
• Some nifty enhancements to git stash.

With ever-increasing adoption, I'm guessing that simplification, improved UX, and better defaults will be strong themes for Git in 2017. As Git repositories get bigger and older, I also suspect we'll see renewed focus on performance and improved handling of large files and deep histories.

If you're into Git and excited to meet some of the developers behind the project, consider coming along to Git Merge in Brussels in a few weeks time. I'm speaking there! However, more importantly, many of the developers who maintain Git will be there for the conference and the annual Git Contributors Summit, which will likely drive much of the direction for the year ahead. 

Footnotes

Statistics pulled from Git's master branch. You can use these commands to do your own year in review too!

 git for-each-ref --sort=-taggerdate --format '%(refname) %(taggerdate)' refs/tags | grep "v\d\.\d*\.0 .* 2016" | wc -l

 git for-each-ref --sort=-taggerdate --format '%(refname) %(taggerdate)' refs/tags | grep "v\d\.\d*\.[^0] .* 2016" | wc -l

 git shortlog -s -n --since=2016-01-01 --until=2017-01-01 | wc -l

 git log --oneline --since=2016-01-01 --until=2017-01-01 | wc -l

 git log --oneline --since=2015-01-01 --until=2016-01-01 | wc -l

 git diff --shortstat `git rev-list -1 --until=2016-01-01 master` `git rev-list -1 --until=2017-01-01 master`