Fixing Code Without the Chaos — Git Stash Explained

Understand when to stash, when to commit — and how to keep your Git history neat.

Problem

You're working on a new feature (without using a separate branch), and you realize there's a bug in your existing code. Now what?

Comment out your in-progress changes?
Commit half-finished work just to fix the bug?

Neither option is ideal. Fortunately, there's a better approach.

Solution

Use git stash to temporarily hide your current changes. Then fix the bug and bring your changes back cleanly.

Command

git stash
# Hides all your uncommitted changes (Work in Progress)

Fix the bug and commit the fix:

git commit -am "Fix bug in processing function"

Bring your changes back:

git stash pop

Why This Works

git stash saves both staged and unstaged changes
It doesn't create a commit — won't appear in git history
It's local only — doesn't affect collaborators

Real Example

import time

def debug(data_length=10):
    for data_index, data in enumerate(range(data_length), start=1):
        print(f'[+] Processing Data At : {data_index}')

        # Bug: Issue appears at index > 5
        if data_index > 5:
            raise Exception('System Broken!')

        time.sleep(1)

You commit this version:

git add debug.py
git commit -m "Data processing function added!"

Now you begin work on a new feature:

def processing_debug(data):
    # New feature in progress
    pass

Then you realize there's a bug in debug(). You stash your changes:

git stash push -m "New Processing Feature Work"

Now your file reverts to the clean, committed version:

import time

def debug(data_length=10):
    for data_index, data in enumerate(range(data_length), start=1):
        print(f'[+] Processing Data At : {data_index}')

        # Bug handled safely
        if data_index > 5:
            pass

        time.sleep(1)

You fix the bug:

git add debug.py
git commit -m "Fixed data processing bug"

Then restore your feature:

git stash pop

Bonus

List all stashes:
```
git stash list
```
Inspect contents of a stash:
```
git stash show -p
```