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jpganz18
Asked: 2020-12-03 07:17:31 +0800 CST 2020-12-03 07:17:31 +0800 CST

What is the difference between pull and fetch in git?

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What specifically are the differences between making a git pulland making a git fetch?

git

5 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    From the documentation :

    git pullis shorthand for git fetchfollowed by git merge FETCH_HEAD.

    or doing a free translation:

    git pullis an abbreviation for git fetchfollowed by git merge FETCH_HEAD.

    That is, it git fetchchecks in the changes, but leaves them in another branch , until the checkout is done git mergeto the local branch .

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  2. Always in a repository you have a hidden branch, which you can see by using git branch -a.

    That hidden branch is origin/master.

    You, by using git fetch, push the changes from the remote repository to the branch origin/master:

    git fetch origin

    Now you have the changes in origin/master, but you would have to pass them to the branch master, for that you have to use:

    git merge origin/master

    From this you have the new changes in your branch masterand that's it.

    Here's an image I made to explain this part: enter image description here

    When using git pullthese combining git fetch+ git merge.

    git pull origin master

    In conclusion git pull, you are saving yourself from using one more command, but I recommend that if you are just starting to use git, continue using git fetchandgit merge

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  3. It actually git pullpulls changes from the given branch and updates it against your local repository.

    git fetchpulls down the changes from the given branch and puts it in a mirror branch which is just a kind of hidden branch where you can look at the changes from that branch, and then merge with your local branch.

    He git pullis just a git fecth + git merge. Don't use git pullif you're really in doubt as to what changes can be brought in from the remote repository.

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  4. When you do a git fetch, the changes from your remote repository (if any) will be downloaded to a folder called origin/master , which is a hidden folder. To include the changes to your local branch you need to merge master with origin/master.

    Git pullit does all that automatically.

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  5. Very briefly: with fetch you only query the changes that are in the repository with respect to your local copy; and with pull you download the changes to your local. I think that Sourcetree does a fetch before doing a pull.

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