Note: this article was originally published at https://www.futurelearn.com/info/blog/telling-stories-with-your-git-history. Credit: Seb Jacobs, Developer at FutureLearn. Our Git history is a living, ever-changing, searchable record that tells the story of how and why our code is the way it is. The ability to document code effectively using Git (or another version control system) is just as important as being able to ship a feature, write clean code or readable tests. Although your code should be self-documenting, it doesn’t tell the story of why the code is the way it is or how it came to be. You may be used to more conventional methods of code documentation such as a Readme or a Wiki, however these forms of documentation can often become out of date. You should apply the same rules you apply to code design, in terms of separating your concerns, using Git for the documentation and the code for the code. Here are five principles to use when it comes to Git: