Search Git Commits Between Dates

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One of my weaknesses as a developer is relying on UIs to provide me the data I need.  It's not a fatal weakness but it does hamper me a bit.  One prime example is relying on GitHub's interface to review changes; git's command line provides the information needed with commands but the UI is just so much nicer.

I recently needed to trace back commits to find a problematic commit between a given date range.  You can use the following git command to list commits between two dates:

$ git log --after="2018-06-30" --before="2018-07-03" --oneline
636c0ff21 Add recordTelemetryEvent() helper to debugger util fixes #6529 (#6571)
94d5e0639 [Telemetry] Fixed telemetry import to point at devtools module using transform-mc.js (#6567)
990c52150 [Editor] get mode from editor (#6563)
2f990aa0e [flow] add types for Editor/index (#6568)
7f92836ba When replaying, fix resume button bug and show pause button when unpaused. (#6582)
1840902f9 [Breakpoint] use PureComponent (#6583)

Especially nice is the --oneline modifier to keep the commit list concise.

I'd guess that 90% of git developers simply branch, commit, and push -- not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's only about 2% of what git is capable of.  Using native tools and not UIs is a badge of honor in our business, so mastering the lessor known commands can speed up development and make you less reliant on outside apps!

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Discussion

  1. Ruturaj

    When is Firefox gonna come natively on GIT and not hg -> git ?

  2. I totally agree with your point that it is very difficult for a developer to think outside of UIs, therefore, we need to rely on UIs. When it comes to GitHub’s interface to update or change anything like if you search Git commits between Dates then it will be very difficult for you to search due to the UIs. There are so many developers who are still confused about how to search Git commits between selected date ranges.

    The information you shared in the article will be beneficial for the developers. By using the Git command you mentioned in the blog post, one can list or search the Git commits between two dates. It is necessary for a developer to have expertise in such type of commands so that he or she will be less reliable on outside apps. Keep sharing these kinds of information with us. Thank You!

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