Reading `git log` and `git diff` Like You Mean It

History Is Only Useful If You Can Read It

git log is where most people either get lost in a wall of hashes or never open it at all. A few flags turn it into an actual tool:

git log --oneline --graph --decorate     # the shape of history, one line per commit
git log -p -- path/to/file.ts             # every change ever made to one file
git log --author="Dom"                    # filter by author
git diff                                    # working dir vs. staging
git diff --staged                           # staging vs. last commit
git diff main..feature-branch                # what a branch actually changed

.gitignore Is Not Optional

Anything generated (node_modules/, build output, .env secrets, IDE config) belongs in .gitignore, never in a commit. If a file was accidentally committed before it was ignored, adding it to .gitignore after the fact does nothing — it has to be explicitly removed from tracking with git rm --cached.