Pull Request Workflow with Merge

Workflow Steps:

  1. Create a Feature Branch: Start from the latest main branch, create a new branch for your feature or bug fix.

    git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b feature-branch

  2. Make Changes: Implement your feature or fix and commit your changes to this branch.

  3. Push Feature Branch: Push your branch to the remote repository.

    git push origin feature-branch

  4. Create Pull Request: On GitHub, create a new pull request from your feature branch to the main branch.

  5. Review and Discuss: Team members review the changes, discuss, and possibly request modifications.

  6. Merge Pull Request: Once approved, merge the pull request into main using GitHub’s merge option. This creates a merge commit.

Best Use Case for Merge:

  • Collaborative Projects: When maintaining a comprehensive history of changes and contributions is more important than having a linear commit history. The merge workflow preserves the context of changes, including how features were integrated over time.

Pull Request Workflow with Rebase

Workflow Steps:

  1. Create a Feature Branch: Just like with merging, you start by creating a new branch off of main.

  2. Make Changes: Work on your feature or bug fix and commit these changes.

  3. Fetch Latest Changes: Before integrating your changes, fetch the latest updates from main.

    git fetch origin

  4. Rebase onto Main: Rebase your feature branch onto the latest main to create a linear history.

    git rebase origin/main

    Resolve any conflicts that arise during the rebase.

  5. Force Push (If Necessary): After a successful rebase, you may need to force push your branch if you’ve already pushed it before rebasing.

    git push origin feature-branch --force

  6. Create Pull Request: Create a pull request for your rebased feature branch into main.

  7. Review and Discuss: The review process is the same; team members may review and request changes.

  8. Merge Pull Request: Once the pull request is approved, merge it into main. Given the rebase, this merge is often a fast-forward merge, meaning no merge commit is created.

Best Use Case for Rebase:

  • Individual Contributions or Feature-Specific Branches: Ideal when working on individual contributions or when it’s crucial to maintain a clean, linear history. Rebasing is best used in scenarios where a clear project narrative is preferred, and the branch is not shared with others, to avoid complications from rewriting history.