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Git replacing LF with CRLF

On a Windows machine, I added some files using git add. I got warnings saying:

LF will be replaced by CRLF

What are the ramifications of this conversion?

Answer*

CR and LF are a special set of characters that helps format our code.

CR (\r) puts the cursor at the beginning of a line but doesn't create a new line. This was how legacy versions of macOS (not-applicable today) works.

LF (\n) creates a new line, but it doesn't put the cursor at the beginning of that line. The cursor stays back at the end of the last line. This is how Unix (which includes macOS) and Linux work.

CRLF (\r\n) creates a new line as well as puts the cursor at the beginning of the new line. This is how we see it in Windows OS.

To summarize:

 1. LF (LINE FEED)
 - stands for Line Feed
 - denoted with \n
 - creates a new line in the code
 - The ASCII code is 10.
 - Used by Unix and other OSes like it or based around it, like Linux and modern macOS.

2. CR (CARRIAGE RETURN)
 - stands for CARRIAGE RETURN
 - denoted with \r
 - puts the cursor on the beginning of a line.
 - The ASCII code is 13.
 - Used by old versions of macOS before Mac OS X.

3. CRLF (CARRIAGE RETURN AND LINE FEED)
 - stands for CARRIAGE RETURN and LINE FEED
 - denoted with \r\n
 - creates a new line and puts the cursor at the beginning of that new line.
 - The ASCII code is 10 for LF and 13 for CR.
 - Primarily used on Windows OS.

Git uses LF by default. So when we use Git on Windows, it throws a warning like- "CRLF will be replaced by LF" and automatically converts all CRLF into LF, so that code becomes compatible.

NB: Don't worry...see this less as a warning and more as a notification message.

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What do you mean by "puts the cursnew line beginning" (seems incomprehensible)? Please respond by editing (changing) your answer, not here in comments (without "Edit:", "Update:", or similar - the answer should appear as if it was written today).

Peter Mortensen
– Peter Mortensen

2022-06-28 17:32:50 +00:00
Commented Jun 28, 2022 at 17:32

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Git replacing LF with CRLF

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