Understanding Pull Requests in GitHub
Pull requests let you tell others about changes you’ve pushed to a branch in a repository on GitHub. Once a pull request is opened, you can discuss and review the potential changes with collaborators and add follow-up commits before your changes are merged into the base branch.
What is a Pull Request?
A pull request is a way to let other people know that you’ve pushed changes to a branch on a repository on GitHub. Pull requests act as a forum for discussing proposed changes before they become part of the official project. They can also be used to discuss changes to a repository’s documentation, source code, and other important project elements.
Who Can Create a Pull Request in GitHub?
Any user with write access to a repository can create pull requests. If you don’t have write access, you can fork the repository and submit your changes through a pull request.
How to Create a Pull Request in GitHub
- Open the relevant repository on GitHub.
- Go to the Pull Requests tab.
- Click the “New Pull Request” button.
- Select the base repository and the branch you want to merge into the base repository.
- Select the head repository and the branch you want to merge from.
- Check the changes that will be merged.
- Enter your commit message.
- Click the “Create Pull Request” button.
What Happens After Creating a Pull Request?
When you create a pull request, the project maintainers or collaborators can review your proposed changes and decide whether to merge them into the project. If they decide to merge, they can commit the changes to the project’s official repository. If they decide not to merge, they can close the pull request.
FAQs
What is the Difference Between a Pull Request and a Merge Request?
A pull request is a collaboration tool used in software development, while a merge request is used in version control systems (such as Git). A pull request is used to propose changes to the code in a repository, while a merge request is used to suggest merging one branch into another.
How Can I See All Open Pull Requests?
You can view all open pull requests in a repository by going to the Pull Requests tab. From there, you can select Open Pull Requests to view all open pull requests in the repository.
How Can I Delete a Pull Request?
You can delete a pull request by navigating to the Pull Requests tab and selecting the pull request you want to delete. From there, you can select the Delete Pull Request option to delete the pull request.
Why Was My Pull Request Declined?
There are many reasons why your pull request may have been declined. It could be due to technical reasons, such as incompatible code, or it could be due to non-technical reasons, such as not following the project’s pull request guidelines.
How Do I Resolve a Merge Conflict?
If a pull request is declined due to a merge conflict, it means that the changes you proposed conflict with the changes from another pull request. To resolve this issue, you need to manually resolve the conflicts in the conflicting files. You can do this by using a text editor or a merge tool.
