Chapter 5: Collaborating with Git - Pull Requests and Merge Conflicts

This chapter belong to Getting Started with Git: A Beginner's Guide Series

Collaborating with Git is a crucial aspect of software development. When working on a project with multiple developers, it is important to have a version control system in place to track changes, merge code and resolve conflicts. In this chapter, we will discuss two important concepts in Git, pull requests and merge conflicts.

Pull Requests

A pull request is a way to notify others about changes you've pushed to a Git repository on GitHub. It allows other users to review your changes, discuss any modifications and merge them into the main branch. To create a pull request, follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository you want to contribute to.
2. Clone the repository to your local machine.
3. Create a new branch to make your changes.
4. Commit and push your changes to your fork.
5. Open a pull request on the original repository.

Here's an example of the commands you would use to create a pull request in Git:

$ git clone https://github.com/[your-username]/[repo-name].git
$ git checkout -b [branch-name]
$ git add [file-name]
$ git commit -m "your commit message"
$ git push origin [branch-name]

Merge Conflicts A merge conflict occurs when two developers modify the same line of code in the same file. When Git tries to merge these changes, it does not know which change to keep and which to discard, causing a conflict. To resolve a merge conflict, you will need to manually edit the file to include both changes.

Here's an example of how to resolve a merge conflict in Git:

1. Open the file with the conflict.
2. Locate the conflict markers, usually indicated by <<<<<<<, =======, and >>>>>>>.
3. Decide which change to keep and which to discard.
4. Delete the conflict markers and other unnecessary lines.
5. Save the file and close it.
6. Commit the changes with a descriptive message.

In conclusion, pull requests and merge conflicts are important concepts in Git that every software developer should be familiar with. By understanding these concepts, you will be able to effectively collaborate with other developers, maintain version control and resolve conflicts when they arise.