Line history

Learn to inspect the history of a specific line.

Inspecting line history

With git blame, you can see the latest modification information for lines in a file. When investigating a line, identifying its commit ID is important. You can use that ID to inspect the commit message, changed files, and actual changes.

git blame src/user.js
git show 7ab91cd

Blame shows the commit that last modified a line; it does not necessarily identify when the line was first introduced.

The relationship between a line and a commit

A line's blame entry points to the commit that last changed its current content. For example, a line may have been added in an earlier commit and slightly edited in a later one. In that case, blame identifies the commit that made the latest edit.

git blame src/config.js

After obtaining the commit ID, use git show to inspect the change context and investigate why the line was updated.

Exercise Use blame and show together

Display line attribution for src/payment.js. Then inspect the example commit c91de42 in detail.

Show example solution

git blame src/payment.js
git show c91de42

Test yourself

You want to inspect the commit ID shown beside a line in blame output. Which command is appropriate?
- git clone COMMIT_ID
- git switch COMMIT_ID
- git show COMMIT_ID
- git init COMMIT_ID
Show answer

git show COMMIT_ID — git show displays the message and changes made by the specified commit.
Display a line's commit details
```
git show ____
```
Show answer
```
git show 7ab91cd
```
Line history investigation

git blame

Finds a line's last change record
Commit kimliği

Selects the commit to inspect
git show

Displays commit details
Commit mesajı

Explains the purpose of the change

Next lesson: blame -L

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