lesson_1_reflections.txt

How did viewing a diff between two versions of a file help you see the bug that
was introduced?

    By paring down the file to only display lines that had changed, it was easy
    to pick out differences in those lines. Finding a difference you know exists
    is much easier than searching for differences at random. 

How could having easy access to the entire history of a file make you a more
efficient programmer in the long term?

    If at any point something starts acting up, looks different, or I just change
    my mind on something, I can rollback until I find a version I like, and start
    over from there. I can also compare that rolled back version to the newest one
    to see what differences might be causing the difference.

What do you think are the pros and cons of manually choosing when to create a
commit, like you do in Git, vs having versions automatically saved, like Google
docs does?

    Pros:
    	- Granular control over what constitutes a new version
    	- Avoid over cluttering or making illogical versions
	Cons: 
		- Susceptible to human error (forgetfulness)
		- Can appear irregular depending on pace of changes. 

Why do you think some version control systems, like Git, allow saving multiple
files in one commit, while others, like Google Docs, treat each file separately?

    For version control designed specifically for coding, committing multiple files
    is essential functionality. These files are often interrelatd and if you roll
    back changes to one file, you would often have to roll them back in one or more
    other files. In systems like Google Docs, there are typically not, and sometimes
    can't be, interdependences between files. For this reason using the more efficient
    practice of individual version control is preferred. 

How can you use the commands git log and git diff to view the history of files?

	Use git log to browse available commits and note their commit IDs. Then use
	git diff to compare two of those IDs with differences highlighted by file and line. 

How might using version control make you more confident to make changes that
could break something?

    I would be more likely to make major changes to structure or other complex elements
    of my code if I knew I had a working commit to fall back on if I got stuck. 

Now that you have your workspace set up, what do you want to try using Git for?

    I plan to version control all course submissions, check them in to GitHub, and be 
    able to take this course on either my work or personal computer by just cloning my 
    latest commit.