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Jesse Phillips
Jesse Phillips

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I Find Git Extensions Confusing

I made the recommendation to us git extensions as the standard git tool if you don't already have one. I thought this would be good, it sets up a diff tool and provides all the nice advanced git capabilities. So why do I end up so confused?

When I go to help I request an operation. They right click on something and the option is available. Well, that might do what I'm thinking, but I don't know. This creates a complex matrix of options to achieve something.

It has some nice usability improvements, but I think it does not help to guide the user. You already need to understand what git is doing in order to make the most of it.

Top comments (2)

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fluffynuts profile image
Davyd McColl

Your last sentence nails it for most git tools -- you need to understand how git works: the more the better. Personally, Git Extensions never felt comfortable for me: I found the UI too busy and confusing when I could accomplish what I wanted from the CLI easier. Also, GE is windows-only and I tend to work across at least two operating systems (windows and linux), occasionally crossing into osx-land.

GitKraken is way better (give it a go if you haven't -- it can be free depending on usage).

The JetBrains integrated tooling is quite good, but they're mixing it up a bit lately, so every release, the cheese has moved. Personally, I still end up at the command prompt a lot of the time -- I really only use GUI tools to browse history and resolve conflicts.

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jessekphillips profile image
Jesse Phillips

Personally I'm quite happy with the standard gitk and git gui. As you say I mostly just want to browse the history, and git gui is nice for managing partial commits, something git extensions fails at.

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