🔗 The Git commands I run before reading any code

The first thing I do with a new codebase isn’t dive into the files; I run specific git commands to assess its health. The git log --format command can reveal the 20 most changed files over the past year, highlighting those at risk of being "codebase drag." A 2005 Microsoft study showed that churn metrics predict defects better than complexity metrics. I cross-reference high-churn files with git log -i -E --grep for bug keywords to identify the most dangerous areas. Assessing contributor activity with git shortlog -sn --no-merges also helps determine the bus factor and stability of knowledge in the team. Declining commit trends signal team momentum loss and issues in deployment are indicated by revert frequencies. These simple commands offer a quick snapshot of a codebase’s challenges, guiding me on where to focus my attention first.