Comment on GitHub Desktop or Git CLI?
firelizzard@programming.dev 6 months agoDo you use the command line for everything? Do you edit with vim, view diffs with git diff, browse the web with links or lynx?
GUIs are useful tools. I’m happy with VSCode’s git integration. It’s just what I need for basic stuff like staging files and committing. I use the CLI whenever I want to do something like rebasing because I can type that command faster than I can figure out the GUI, but it would be stupid to artificially force myself to use the CLI for everything because of some kind of principal.
Shinji_Ikari@hexbear.net 6 months ago
Yeah I actually just prefer the command line, I’ve never had to force myself to use it. I even tried using VSC for a bit recently but i couldn’t get myself to like it. I just use nvim with some plugins in a tmux session now and its productive as hell.
Of course I don’t browse the web with the command line. For merging branches, I always merge main into the working branch first, check conflict files, and go through the file finding the diffs and resolving them. I’ve used merge tools before that were sorta nice but I had my own issues with them.
Maybe it’s the type of programming I do. I don’t do any web stuff, so file count is down. For larger code bases I keep a non editor terminal up and will
grep -refor word/phrase searching,findto look for specific files, etc. I’ll occasionally use an IDE, typically eclipse based because embedded, but I don’t find myself missing the features they add.firelizzard@programming.dev 6 months ago
That’s my point. Browsing the web with a command line tool is obnoxious - you use a GUI for tasks that you find easier/more pleasant to do with a GUI. The difference is where that line is. When I’m reviewing what work I’ve done and checking through my code for debugging statements and other cruft I don’t want to push, I prefer to have a nice tree view of my change set where I can click on an item, see what I’ve changed, select lines and stage them, select other lines and revert them, etc. I could do all of that with command line tools (though not that many have mouse support) but I already know how to do exactly what I want with VSC so why would I use anything else?
If someone is incapable of learning the tool, that’s an issue if they’re a developer. But your statement implies that everyone should use the CLI for everything. My point is that it’s a matter of preference. The CLI is not superior and GUIs aren’t superior. They’re both just tools and if you can get your job done quickly and efficiently, that’s all that should matter.