lesson_1_reflections.txt

How did viewing a diff between two versions of a file help you see the bug that was introduced?
The diff shows the lines that have been changed, and since we know that the new file was somehow
changed from the old one, it was easier to spot the error in the new file. Otherwise, you would have
to manually search through the entire file looking for references to the functionality that was not
working. This method is much quicker and gets right to the point of the bug. This will also be extremely
helpful if files are saved often and not many changes were made since the last working version.

How could having easy access to the entire history of a file make you a more efficient programmer in the long term?
Maybe you have created a function in an old program, and then removed it because it was no longer necessary.
Now you are working on a new project that could benefit from that solution, but the current version of that
old project no longer includes the function you need. You could look at the entire history of the file and find
the function you needed and then implement it in your new project. Every thought you've ever had (and
saved in a file) as a programmer will now be accessible at any point in time.

What do you think are the pros and cons of manually choosing when to create a commit, like you do in Git, vs having versions automatically saved, like Google docs does?
You can control the different versions of your project, and if you do it right, each one will work (or at least be
in a state where you can test things). An auto-save feature would save projects mid-thought, and the results could be
disasterous if you actually tried to run your project.

Why do you think some version control systems, like Git, allow saving multiple files in one commit, while others, like Google Docs, treat each file separately?
Git is often used for coding projects. When coding a website, there are multiple files required in order for a webpage
to function properly. These should all be handled in a repository. Google Docs is better suited to tracking a single,
isolated file.

How can you use the commands git log and git diff to view the history of files?
You can use the log to find commit IDs, and then you can use git diff to see the difference between those two commits

How might using version control make you more confident to make changes that could break something?
You will know that you can always go back to the last working version.

Now that you have your workspace set up, what do you want to try using Git for?
I will use it to complete projects for this course.