> devs can't use commits as checkpoints/savepoints on their work
But they can! In git you can do whatever you want with your local/remote working branch. And after you're done it's pretty straightforward to massage it into a coherent series of commits (especially if you had been working with that in mind).
> each commit becomes a fully fleshed out "intermediate final state"
This is really a team decision. You can allow intermediate commits to e.g. fail the tests, and add a tag to your main/master after each merge. Then you know that only the tagged commits are guaranteed to be fully functional.
> And after you're done it's pretty straightforward to massage it into a coherent series of commits
Why waste time? Just squash and merge, you have a single commit and it WORKS. Intermediate messages disappear and you have a single, atomic rollback point on your main branch
> You can allow intermediate commits to e.g. fail the tests, and add a tag to your main/master after each merge. Then you know that only the tagged commits are guaranteed to be fully functional.
OR… squash and merge. Block merging with tests and compilation passing
For anything in tech, there’s the frictionless way and the busywork way. Both of your examples are busywork that’s completely unnecessary if you just… squash and merge
The best process is the process nobody needs to remember to do shit for it to work
But they can! In git you can do whatever you want with your local/remote working branch. And after you're done it's pretty straightforward to massage it into a coherent series of commits (especially if you had been working with that in mind).
> each commit becomes a fully fleshed out "intermediate final state"
This is really a team decision. You can allow intermediate commits to e.g. fail the tests, and add a tag to your main/master after each merge. Then you know that only the tagged commits are guaranteed to be fully functional.