[PLUG] [Event Report] Magit @ Pune Emacs Users' Group, India, February 22, 2013

[Shakthi Kannan]

Hi,

I had presented an introduction to Magit [1], "Emacs + Magit = Git
Magic", at the Pune Emacs Users' group meetup [2] on Friday, February
22, 2013. Magit is an Emacs mode that interfaces with Git [3]. Magit
doesn't provide all the interfaces of Git, but the frequently used
commands. The user manual [4] was used as a reference. Magit is
available in Fedora. You can install it using:

  $ sudo yum install emacs-magit

The talk was centered around the notion of writing a poem on Emacs in
Emacs, and using magit to revision it. I started an Emacs session,
created a directory with Dired [5] mode, and used magit (M-x
magit-status) to initialize a git repo. After adding a stanza in the
poem, I used the magit commands to stage (s) and commit the same (c,
C-c C-c) from the magit-buffer. Another stanza and a README file were
then added, and the different untracked, and tracked section
visibility options (TAB, S-TAB, {1-4}, M-{1-4}) were illustrated.
After adding the third stanza, and committing the same, the short (l
l) and long (l L) history formatted outputs were shown. The return
(RET) key on a commit in the magit-log history buffer opens a new
magit-commit buffer, displaying the changes made in the commit. The
sha1 can be copied using the (C-w) shortcut.

The reflogs are visible with the (l h) option from the magit-buffer.
The (d) command was used to show the difference between the master and
a revision, and (D) for the diff between any two revisions. Annotated
tags (t a) and lightweight tags (t t) can be created in magit.
Resetting the working tree and discarding the current changes is
possible with (X). Stashing (z z) the present changes, applying a
stash (a), and killing the stash (k) were demonstrated. An org branch
was then created (b n) to write a stanza on org-mode, and then merged
(m m) with the master branch. An example of rebasing (R) was also
illustrated. The magit-buffer can be refreshed (g) to check the
current status of the git repo. Anytime, the magit buffers can be
closed with the (q) command. A git command can be invoked directly
using (:), and the corresponding output can be viewed with ($), which
is shown in a magit-process buffer.

A summary of the various shortcuts are available in the presentation
[6]. The poem that I wrote on Emacs, and used in the talk:

  Emacs is, an operating system
  Which unlike many others, is truly, a gem
  Its goodies can be installed, using RPM
  Or you can use ELPA, which has already packaged them

  You can customize it, to your needs
  You can also check EmacsWiki, for more leads
  Your changes work, as long as reload succeeds
  And helps you with, your daily deeds

  People say, it lacks a decent editor
  But after using its features, they might want to differ
  Using Magit's shortcuts, you might infer
  That it is something, you definitely prefer

  Plan your life, with org-mode
  You don't necessarily need, to write code
  TODO lists and agenda views, can easily be showed
  Reading the documentation, can help you come aboard

  Emacs is, a double-edged sword
  Its powerful features, can never be ignored
  Customization is possible, because of Free Software code
  And this is, my simple ode

SK

[1] Magit. https://github.com/magit/magit

[2] Pune Emacs User Group. http://www.meetup.com/the-peg

[3] Git. http://git-scm.com/

[4] Magit user manual. http://magit.github.com/magit/magit.html

[5] Dired mode.
http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Dired.html

[6] Emacs + Magit = Git Magic.
http://shakthimaan.com/downloads.html#emacs-magit-git-magic

-- 
Shakthi Kannan
http://www.shakthimaan.com