Start using branches and pull requests

[maxfreu]

So far, you have successfully learned how to use git in its simplest form. It is now time to make things more complicated :D The problem is this:

https://github.com/GISLAB-HAWK/TrailScan-QGIS-Plugin/commits/master/

There are e.g. five commits of the same name "error handling for input data issues". All these changes seem to address the same underlying problem and alter different files. It becomes hard for me (and any other collaborator) to understand what's happening and if the changes make sense. Side note: you can change may files in one commit.

The generally accepted solution for software development is to use so-called branches. Basically, you can imagine branches as roads: you have the current version of your code and instead of making at all changes on the main road, you take a detour and make changes on a side road. When you want your side road come back to the main road, you make a so-called pull request. That will give collaborators a chance to review your code, which will increase its quality.

So: When you want to make the next changes, create a new branch on your computer (can be done in pycharm or the terminal), switch to that branch, make the changes and push them to this repository. Then you can use the github web page to select that branch and make a pull request. Here's an example how a pull request can look like:

PUTvision/qgis-plugin-deepness#150

I know this is initially annoying, but it will make your code better.

[tkempen]

for the current work on MacOS installation bugfix I created a new branch and pushed the changes on init.py. When testing is completed/additional , I will make a pull request.