The Good Patch

(Characteristics of a good patch: add git format-patch comment)
(add wikipedia link)
 
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== Characteristics of a good patch ==
== Characteristics of a good patch ==
A good patch should:
A good patch should:
-
* be in unified context format (<code>diff -u</code>)
+
* be in [[:wikipedia:Diff#Unified_format|unified context format]] (<code>diff -u</code>)
** alternatively, be generated with <pre>git format-patch</pre>
** alternatively, be generated with <pre>git format-patch</pre>
* only include related changes
* only include related changes

Latest revision as of 13:16, 2 February 2011

[edit] Characteristics of a good patch

A good patch should:

  • be in unified context format (diff -u)
    • alternatively, be generated with
      git format-patch
  • only include related changes
  • not introduce any compile time warnings
  • have test code (if any) separate from the added/changed functionality
  • not add any extra debug printing, unless absolutely necessary
  • match the coding style of the existing source file, for example with regard to indentation and whitespace

When attaching a patch to a bug at https://bugs.maemo.org/, add the "patch" keyword to the bug report.