JJ is great - we actually build on it! Branching uses JJ for commit-graph storage, then layers live-sync and automatic conflict resolution on top. It started life as the VisualJJ extension for VS Code and Cursor and is now available as a standalone app as well, so any editor can benefit.
Branching continuously synchronises your Git repository with GitHub and automatically resolves conflicts on rebase - removing manual pull/push, management of branches, and conflict resolution. The exact merge strategy is evolving - we are starting with deterministic "take incoming" and testing structural and AI-assisted options. The guiding principle: automate the routine merges, leave full control in developer's hands when it matters.
You are right that some situations do require careful inspection of changes to avoid "garbage". In others cases you might not care about internals if behaviour looks correct, e.g. for a prototype.
Our "progressive depth" approach in Branching aims to serve both cases - default automatic behaviour, and the option to do Git operations manually when you need to - including editing conflicts manually or with tools like Mergiraf. That way the busy path stays fast, and the careful path is still just plain Git.
for me important argument in favour of JJ over Sapling was "first-class conflicts" - JJ stores conflicts in the history and allows you to resolve them later, while Sapling forces you to resolve conflicts at the point when they happen
If first class resolution is done right, then instead of project generators we can just create sample projects that people fork, and when you make breaking changes or add new startup config to the project, you update the sample project(s) and people can pull the updates. Once you resolve the conflicts you’re done until the next change, at which point your repo remembers how the last conflict was resolved, and doesn’t ask you to redo it.
This is why jj is on my todo list. I’m not calling it jujutsu no matter how much someone pays me though.
You are not alone :) For Microsoft Word you might find Writage plugin useful (https://www.writage.com) - supports all basic Markdown syntax, tables etc. and recently added support for math formulas.
Hey! This resonates :) My friends and I are trying to make it less hard - with a UX tailored to workflow at big tech companies (trunk-based development): https://www.trunkflow.com/ - would appreciated any feedback!
