Git Log by Date - Shell/Bash

If you're a programmer working with Git, you may have faced situations where you need to filter Git logs by date. This can come in handy if you want to track changes made on a particular day or within a specific time range.

Fortunately, Git offers a variety of ways to filter logs, including by date. In this article, we'll discuss how to use Git log by date in Shell/Bash.

Git Log

Git log is a command that displays the commit history of a Git repository. By default, it shows the latest commits first, but you can customize the output with various options.

Here's the basic syntax of the git log command:

git log [--options] [branch_name]

You can replace the branch_name with the name of the branch or commit you want to inspect. For example, git log master shows the commits made in the master branch.

Git Log by Date

To filter the Git log by date, we use the --since and --until options. Here's how it works:

• --since shows commits made after the specified date.
• --until shows commits made before the specified date.

Both options accept a date in various formats. For example, you can use YYYY-MM-DD to specify a date or "1 day ago" to specify a relative date.

Here's an example of how to use Git log by date:

git log --since "2021-01-01" --until "2021-05-31"

This command shows all commits made between January 1, 2021, and May 31, 2021.

Git Log by Date and Author

You can combine the --since and --until options with other options to further filter the Git log. For example, you can use the --author option to show commits made by a specific author within a date range.

Here's an example:

git log --author "John Doe" --since "2021-01-01" --until "2021-05-31"

This command shows all commits made by John Doe between January 1, 2021, and May 31, 2021.

Conclusion

Using Git log by date can help you track changes made to your Git repository based on specific dates or date ranges. The --since and --until options give you the flexibility to filter the Git log to meet your needs. With a better understanding of this feature, you can make the most of Git for your programming projects.