Git Git History and Log 3

Question 1

How do you display the number of insertions and deletions per file in each commit?

Accepted Answer

git log --stat

Answer

The `--stat` option adds a summary of file changes (insertions/deletions) below each commit entry in the log.

Question 2

What does `git log --follow ` do compared to `git log `?

Accepted Answer

Tracks the file's history across renames

Answer

The `--follow` flag instructs Git to continue the log history across file renames, showing the full lineage of a file.

Question 3

Which `git log` option searches for commits that added or removed a specific string in the code (the 'pickaxe')?

Accepted Answer

-S

Answer

The `-S` option (pickaxe search) finds commits that changed the number of occurrences of the given string in the codebase.

Question 4

How do you view the full diff of a specific commit by its hash?

Accepted Answer

git show <hash>

Answer

The `git show <hash>` command displays the commit metadata and the full diff introduced by that commit.

Question 5

What does the three-dot syntax `git log main...feature` show?

Accepted Answer

Commits reachable from either branch but not their common ancestor

Answer

The triple-dot syntax shows commits that are reachable from either `main` or `feature` but not from their common merge base.

Git Practice Test