> If the first line of a commit message is a title, it changes the way you write it. It becomes just some text to introduce some more text, without any stress on the information density.

I agree with the author that commit messages should optimize for information density. However the example they provide does a poor job of this:

> This is a smart synopsis, as information dense as possible.

"This is a" is the type of thing that should never appear in a commit message as it could apply to EVERY commit message. Synopsizing is the action, but doesn't indicate what is being synopsized; one of the most important facts for someone to understand what is happening here. Finally "as information dense as possible", again should also be cut as this is telling us HOW not WHAT (and ironically hurts information density).

Were I writing this example it would be:

  Synopsize how to write a commit message

---

I led an initiative at my current company to enforce all commit messages start with an imperative verb and be less than 72 characters. Some people hate it, some people love it.

Aside from standardization, the primary reason to do this is the imperative mood leads to the most concise sentence possible. By leading with the action, the most natural thing to do next is to talk about what is being acted upon. Unnecessary words are dropped and the most important facts are emphasized. In short it forces the author to get to the point.

  [Act] upon [some aspect of the code]

e.g.

  Add user login link on home screen
  Refactor authentication into separate classes
  Lint PR titles conform to standard format